


I'll Keep Coming

by abaguettewithaface



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, F/F, F/M, My headcanons, Violet's point of view, mitch has a crush on violet, violet's a lesbian tho sorry bro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-08-04 14:23:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16348379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abaguettewithaface/pseuds/abaguettewithaface
Summary: Violet first thought of Clementine and AJ as just two more mouths to feed. Now, she can't imagine life without them.Inspired by I'll Keep Coming by Low Roar





	1. Episode 1

**Author's Note:**

> i tried to stay as close to the canon dialogue as possible while taking a few creative liberties

Violet was sitting on the picnic table with Tenn when Marlon threw open the gates, an unconscious girl cradled in his arms as he screamed for everyone to get out of his way. A little boy was following him anxiously, seeming both frightened and protective of the girl. Brody held the little boy’s hand and Aasim locked the gate after them all.

 

“What the fuck…” she muttered, standing and going to see what was happening.

 

“Where the fuck is Ruby?!” Marlon boomed, seemingly on a warpath into the administrator building. His anger was enough to let Violet know it was probably best to keep her distance from him. At least until he cooled down.

 

“I’ll go get her.” Aasim said, running into the dormitories.

 

Violet frowned and crossed her arms. Who were these people? The girl looked half dead already, and the kid… Ugh. Just more mouths to feed, Violet thought.

 

“Giving out our medicine out to a couple of strangers…” Mitch grumbled from beside her, glaring at Marlon’s back until he disappeared into the admin building.

 

“Not much _we_ can do about it. _We’re_ not in charge.” Violet sighed, showing her agreement with his dissent. She sat back beside Tenn as he went back to his drawing.

 

“ _You_ could argue with him.” Mitch said, hovering a couple feet away. “He doesn’t listen to anyone but you and Brody.”

 

“That’s cause he thinks with his dick.” Violet pointed out, making Mitch snort laughter.

 

“Sad thing is, it’s true.” Mitch said, shaking his head and walking back to the lookout point by the front gate.

 

~~~

 

Tenn’s whistle caught her attention, and she sat up, looking down at him from on top of the stone wall. It was her favorite place to bathe in the sun. The stone was warm and she could relax, away from everyone else yet still in sight.

 

Tenn pointed to the girl, now up and moving. The kid, AJ, had let them all know her name was Clementine. Violet thought that was an unusual name, but all she really had for reference were names in books from the school’s library.

 

Clementine had a bandage wrapped around her head, and part of her curly hair had been cut away to deal with her injury, leaving one side still tied into a low bun, and the other trimmed messily. The girl didn’t seem to have noticed it yet.

 

“Yo! Marlon! We got walkers on the fence!” Willie yelled, his voice booming much louder than Violet thought necessary. She didn’t hold it against him though, he’d always had problems controlling his volume.

 

Violet looked away when Clementine made eye contact with her. Her face heated up as she was just caught staring

 

“She’s scary.” Tenn said as Violet jumped down from the wall, bending her knees to lessen the impact. Violet raised an eyebrow, signaling for Tenn to continue. “She held a knife to my throat!”

 

“What?” Violet hissed, immediately doting on him. She pushed his chin up with her hand so she could see, but there were no marks or anything.

 

“She only put it down after Marlon threatened to shoot her.” Tenn recalled. It was obvious he was shaken by it. She sighed and pulled him into her arms. She didn’t really _do_ hugs anymore, but she knew it would make Tenn feel better, so she sucked it up.

 

“She was probably just scared.” Violet reasoned, rubbing his back. “Didn’t know who we are. I promise it was nothing against you, Tenn.”

 

Tenn pulled back, but he was still pouting. Violet could tell, though, that he had been placated a little bit.

 

~~~

 

“Rosie? Where the hell is she?” Marlon called for his dog as Clementine and Louis approached the gate. “You give her her weapon back? Good. You’re gonna have to put it to use. We’ve got a hunting party out there, trying to get back inside. Need our help to clear the way. Seems to be a few more than usual these last couple days.”

 

“It’s almost like something drew their attention.” Violet scoffed. “Something like, I don’t know, an explosion. Or a car crash.”

 

“Vi…” Marlon said, warningly.

 

“Look, I didn’t know any of that was gonna happen. Sorry if it caused you guys problems…” Clementine said. It was the first time Violet had heard her voice, but it sounded… fitting, for her. Violet frowned and turned back towards the gate.

 

Hopefully, Brody, Assim, and Mitch had actually caught something today. She was _not_ looking forward to another hungry night.

 

Louis cleared his throat, “ _‘Hello, Clementine. I’m Violet, nice to meet you.’_ ”

 

“What he said.” Violet sighed. She hated when Louis mocked her, but she also knew she could be unreasonable sometimes and humor was how he dealt with conflict.

 

“Alright boys and girls! They’re starting to fill in!” Willie announced loudly from above them. Violet barely held in an irritated growl because he had made her flinch.

 

“Come on.” Violet urged them, pushing the gate open and unsheathing her cleaver. She was always one to jump right into the thick of things. She knew if she gave herself time to think about it, she would only stress herself out more. She was relieved when she finally spotted Mitch, Brody, and Aasim. “Nice timing. We weren’t gonna be able to hold them off much longer.”

 

“No kidding! Where’d all these walkers come from?” Brody asked. She and Mitch were both carrying two huge rabbits. Violet couldn’t help smiling. They’d be eating well tonight.

 

“We can talk when we’re back inside the gates. Keep an eye out for stragglers.” Marlon said, turning and leading the group back towards the gate.

 

“You know, you’re not half bad. Considering the circumstances and all…” Violet said as they walked back. Seeing Clementine fight was interesting. She used a tactic of kicking in the walker’s knees to stun them. Violet hadn’t thought of that. She figured it must have been something she learned out in the wilderness.

 

Clementine smiled, “Thanks.”

 

“Let’s finish these guys off. No need to let them attract more walkers to the school.” Violet said. She ran forward, swinging her cleaver into the head of a female walker.

 

Violet watched as Clementine saved Aasim’s life, yanking the walker off of him. Clementine barely got out of the way before Rosie came out of nowhere, biting down on the head of the walker. Blood was all over Rosie’s mouth as she menacingly went towards Clementine.

 

“Good girl!” Marlon praised, stooping down and calming his dog. “I see you and Rosie are making friends.”

 

“Uh. I had a bad experience with a dog once…” Clementine breathed, still backing away from Rosie. Her eyes were wide and discomfort was written all over her face.

 

“Well, Rosie here can help you get over it. She’s as cuddly as they come. Well, when she’s not mauling walkers, that is.” Marlon smiled. Clementine just stared and scratched her neck awkwardly.

 

“That walker came out of nowhere.” Aasim commented in leux of a real thank you.

 

“Alright, alright. Fun’s over.” Marlon announced. “Let’s get back inside. I’m fuckin’ starving!”

 

“You’re not the only one.” Clementine mumbled. Violet frowned. She must really be hungry. They’d been on the road for, who knows how long? And, though they had fed AJ last night, Clementine hadn’t  eaten since they’d arrived to Ericson a day ago.

 

“How’d it go out there?” Marlon asked as they walked back.

 

“How do you think it went?” Aasim grunted.

 

“Be nice, Aasim!” Brody snapped. Violet rolled her eyes. He wasn’t being mean! It was the truth! The safe zone was getting smaller and smaller! A hunt this good was rare…

 

“We’ll talk about it later.” Marlon dismissed, easily.

 

“Bullshit. We should talk about it right now!” Aasim asserted. Internally, Violet was cheering him on. There weren’t many people here who bothered to argue with Marlon, but Aasim was one of them. It was good. Marlon needed to be set straight every once in a while.

 

“I said later, dammit!” Marlon growled, hitting Aasim’s shoulder on purpose as he walked past. Violet narrowed her eyes, but there wasn’t much she could do about it.

 

“Still standing, I see.” Louis smiled as he walked between Violet and Clementine, changing the subject. “I’d call that a B plus performance there, Vi. You’ve done better.”

 

“Fuck off.” she sighed, flipping him the finger. He inhaled and brought a hand over his heart, pretending to be hurt.

 

“B minus then. Now, Clem here. That was a solid A. A plus even!” Louis grinned, his voice theatrical. Violet sighed, knowing Louis had probably already developed a crush on this girl.

 

“Um. You kicked ass, Violet. A plus!” Clementine complimented. Violet hid her smile behind her hair, feeling smug at Louis’s annoyed face.

 

“I know.” she said, trying to play off the compliment as no big deal, but her voice gave away her surprise.

 

“You’re both delusional.” Louis complained as they reached the gate. She exhaled as they all went in, feeling somewhat safe again. Mitch and Aasim were delivering their kills to Omar, and the boys smiled at her as she passed. She wanted to hang out with Tenn for a while before dinner.

 

She snorted out loud when AJ elbowed Marlon in the dick, failing to hide her laughter. Brody sent her a disapproving look as Marlon struggled to stand back up. AJ had run off, frightened, after he realized what he’d done. Violet didn’t blame him either. Marlon could be pretty scary when he was mad.

 

~~~

 

“Hey guys.” Violet heard from behind her. She and Tenn were in the graveyard, mourning Sophie and Minerva. It was never an easy thing for her to do, but she always did, for Tenn’s sake. He needed this, so she would always provide.

 

She turned around and saw Clementine and AJ, looking somewhat shy. Tenn backed away a little when he saw Clementine, and Violet smirked. “Knock it off Tenn. Heard you guys didn’t have the best introduction.”

 

“Wasn’t my fault.” Tenn defended himself, meekly. He was hiding behind Violet slightly, but she didn’t step away for make him move. He was easily frightened, and she felt kinda honored he would rely on her for protection.

 

“I really am sorry about that… Really.” Clementine apologized. Her face told Violet that she was being genuine.

 

“I’m sorry too.” Tenn admitted.

 

“What is this?” AJ asked, curiously.

 

“Our graveyard.” Violet breathed, frowning and gesturing to the two graves they had.

 

“You still do that?” Clementine asked slowly. Violet wondered how many people she’d seen die in her lifetime. She had been out in the world up until now, so probably a lot more than anyone at Ericson...

 

“Kinda sorta…” Violet frowned, her voice faltering a little. She always felt a little guilty that they hadn’t found the twins’ bodies. She and Mitch had searched for weeks, but they eventually had to give up. Marlon had ordered them to stop wasting time on it.

 

“So, who’s buried here?” Clementine asked.

 

“No one really. This is where we buried Tenn’s sisters’ belongings. Minnie and Sophie. Twins. Lost ‘em, both about a year ago…” Violet explained, always sure to keep her tone soft when Tenn was nearby. Tenn used his hands to dig a little hole in the mound of dirt, before sticking a little cluster of wildflowers in, and replacing the dirt. AJ looked up at her questioningly, so she explained further. “Paying respects.”

 

AJ looked up to Clementine, “Should we do that too?”

 

“I think that would be a very nice thing to do, AJ.” Clementine smiled. Violet handed him her flowers, and AJ crouched down next to Tenn, copying him.

 

“Thank you.” Tenn smiled sadly. Violet smiled too, glad Tenn was getting along with someone closer to his age besides Willie.

 

Then, AJ stood up again. Clementine lead him away with a hand on his shoulder until they were out of Violet’s sight.

 

“Maybe they’re not so bad.” Tenn shrugged, standing up. Violet smiled.

 

Within a couple minutes, Louis was calling out that dinner was ready. She waited for Tenn to start heading towards the picnic tables. She sat beside him, as always. She’d sort of taken it upon herself to be a big sister figure for him. She figured since he lost two sisters… he could gain a sister in law? She wasn’t exactly sure how all that ‘in law’ stuff worked, but she didn’t care either. She just needed to be there for him. It’s what Minerva would’ve wanted.

 

Dinner was bland, but it was food. She didn’t complain.

 

Brody sat across from her, which Violet did find annoying. Usually, she sat with Mitch and Willie. They were much better company. Mitch had always been a close friend, especially after the twins passed, and even though Willie was kinda weird, it was good for Tenn to have a friend his own age.

 

But lately, Brody had been sucking up her. Well, more than usual. She assumed it was because it was around the time of year when the twin’s died…

 

Part of her wanted to let Brody know it wasn’t her fault. Part of her wanted to let Brody get eaten alive by her guilt. Part of her never wanted to see Brody ever again. But she knew she was being unfair.

 

She knew whose fault it really was. Her own. It was easier not to think about it.

 

Clementine’s reaction to a warm meal made her glad she hadn’t complained about it. She couldn’t imagine what Clementine and AJ had gone through to get here. She found herself feeling sort of privileged to have grown up in a sheltered place like this.

 

“Violet! It’s time!” Louis called after dinner, holding up a stack of cards so she could see. She patted Tenn’s shoulder and stood up, leaving her dish for Omar or Ruby to pick up.

 

“What’s the game tonight, Lou?” Marlon asked as Violet sat beside him.

 

“War!” Louis exclaimed theatrically.

 

“The only card game I’ve played had less people.” Clementine said. Violet wondered what she meant by that.

 

“It’s easy.” Violet said. “Everyone gets a stack of cards. You flip one over. Highest card wins.”

 

“And the winner gets to ask Clem a question.” Louis declared. “What? I wanna get to know you! We all do.” Marlon and Violet nodded their agreement.

 

“What if I win?” Clementine asked.

 

“Then you get to ask us one. It’s only fair.” Louis replied, mixing up the cards.

 

“What about AJ?” Clementine asked, looking around and realizing he wasn’t sitting next to her anymore.

 

“What about him? Looks like he’s made a friend.” Marlon said, gesturing to where AJ was bent over the table talking to Tenn while he drew. Violet smiled at them, glad they were getting along. “C’mon. You can take your eyes off him for one card game, right? Bet you both could use a break from each other.”

 

“Yeah, maybe…” Clementine sighed. “This is his first time around anyone his own age. Sometimes he acts more like an adult than a kid… It’s nice to see him act like a little boy again.”

 

Violet nodded, understanding that sentiment completely. Trauma changes kids. It’s always a relief when she sees Tenn smiling. Must be tenfold out in the wilderness.

 

“Louis, if you would.” Marlon prompted, and Louis gave out stacks of cards. They all flipped over the first one.

 

“Way to go me.” Violet smiled, then frowned. “So… about AJ. Where are his parents? You two don’t really look related, so…”

 

“They’re dead.” she said, simply. Violet was surprised by her bluntness. She seemed… strangely okay with it. “They were nice people… For the most part.”

 

“Makes sense. He’s a nice kid.” Louis said.

 

“...For the most part.” Clementine amended.

 

They flipped cards again. Clementine won. “Okay uh… What’s the grossest thing you’ve ever eaten?”

 

“Easy. Horse eyeballs.” Violet said.

 

“Slugs.” Marlon said.

 

“Cantaloupe.” Louis grinned.

 

“Come on!” Violet complained. “Pick a serious answer!”

 

“What? I fuckin’ _hate_ cantaloupe!” Louis defended.

 

“...I ate a guy’s leg once.” Clementine said. Everyone stared at her, shocked. “I’m kidding!”

 

“...Are you?” Louis asked doubtfully. Violet almost threw up in her mouth when Clementine declined to answer.

 

Louis won the next flip, but suddenly he was getting shy. “Come on. Spit it out.” Violet urged.

 

“So uh. Ever uh… Ever have a boyfriend?” Louis asked, stumbling over his words.

 

“Oh my God…” Violet groaned.

 

“What? It happens! Perfectly valid question. You can ask me if I’ve had a girlfriend. I haven’t, by the way.” Louis smiled.

 

“Oh, I’m sure she’s real surprised about that one.” Violet smirked.

 

“I… met a boy one time.” Clementine started, awkwardly. Violet sighed. Of course. A boy. So she’s probably not into girls then… What a disappointment.

 

“And?” Louis asked, deeply invested.

 

“And we were… friends.”

 

“Just friends?” Violet raised an eyebrow. “Nothing else?”

 

“Well I… had _some_ sort of feelings for him. Maybe not love, but… something.” she frowned. Violet wondered where that boy was now. She concluded he must have died. If Clementine was alone now.

 

“Hah! I win.” Marlon grinned after they flipped the next cards. “So, Clem...You can’t have been alone this entire time. Who used to take care of you? Family?”

 

“The first person who taught me about survival was… Lee.” she answered.

 

“What’d he teach you?”

 

“Lots of stuff.” she shrugged.

 

“Most important thing?”

 

“...” Clementine looked away, seemingly lost in thought. Violet frowned. She seemed so sad. Violet could only assume he was gone now, just like everyone else in Clementine’s life.

 

“Sensitive subject. Got it.” Marlon said softly.

 

They flipped again, and Clementine put on a forced smile. “I win again.”

 

“You do indeed. Ask away.” Louis smiled.

 

“Ever met anyone famous out there?” Clementine asked, keeping it light.

 

“Nope.” Violet said.

 

“Too bad. You’d figure a movie star or somethin’ would show up somewhere.” Louis mused.

 

“They had like millions of dollars. They’re probably living in bunkers with butlers and waterbeds out the ass.” Violet said.

 

“Yeah, maybe.”

 

“I met a guy who used to be a baseball player. Like, for money.” Clementine said.

 

“That’s cool. I used to love baseball. Was he good at it?” Louis asked.

 

“Dunno. We never got to play. He was good with a bat though.”

 

“Baseball sucks.” Violet commented, recalling her dad’s weird obsession with it when she was little.

 

“ _You_ suck.” Louis defended, childishly.

 

“Not as much as baseball.” she retorted. They flipped again. “Victory Violet. Here’s something I like to ask in groups. Out of the four of us, who do you think will die first?”

 

“That is fucked up.” Louis breathed, though he can’t have been surprised. It was Violet’s favorite question to ask.

 

“Oh, I know.” Violet smirked.

 

“Louis. Definitely.” Clementine said confidently.

 

“Definitely.” Violet agreed.

 

“Definitely.” Marlon said.

 

“Definitely.” Louis sighed. “What? I’d have said the same.” Another flip. “I am the greatest card player of all time.”

 

“Just ask your damn question.” Violet groaned.

 

“Fine. Ever… Actually, nevermind…”

 

“What? Ask it.” Clementine said, impatiently.

 

“It’s not a fun question.” Louis warned. Well, now Violet was even more curious...

 

“Ask.” she dared.

 

“Ever had to kill someone you loved…?” Louis asked reluctantly. Clementine’s eyes widened, and she looked away. It must have hit home.

 

“Louis.” Marlon scolded.

 

“Hey, she wanted me to ask it!” Louis defended. Then, they all turned to Clementine in anticipation of her answer.

 

“Lee. His name was Lee.” Clementine said. It was obvious to Violet this was a painful memory. “It was the same day I found out my parents were dead.”

 

“That… sounds like a rough day.” Louis frowned.

 

“Yeah.” Clementine scoffed. “Worst day of my life… I think I’m… done playing for tonight.”

 

“Yeah. That’s probably for the best.” Marlon murmured as Clementine stood up and walked back to AJ.

 

Violet and Marlon both sent withering looks to Louis, who defended himself. “What? She wanted me to ask!” Violet took a deep breath, but didn’t say anything else. Marlon ran to catch up with Clementine, leaving Violet alone with Louis.

 

“Maybe next time we should stick with lighter topics…” Violet mumbled, feeling guilty that they had brought all those memories back to the surface for Clementine. They really had no idea what it was like out there. They should’ve been more considerate…

 

~~~

 

Later that night, Violet figured she should finally get around to finding those colored pencils for Tenn. Well, she knew where they were, she just dreaded going to get them for him. Sophie and Minerva’s bedroom was… not a place she visited often. At least, not after they passed.

 

She’d spent the night there many times while they were both still alive, but now… it was painful. Seeing their empty beds and plain walls was just a reminder that they were gone. She didn’t allow herself any time to hesitate outside the door, knowing that if she did, she’d probably chicken out again.

 

She opened the door, expecting to see a gray, empty room. Instead, she saw Clementine, looking over AJ’s shoulder at the desk.

 

“Oh, shit. I didn’t know Marlon set you up in this room.” she said, stepping inside and closing the door behind her. “I just wanted to grab something from the closet.”

 

She hurriedly looked through the closet, but found it empty except for clothes hangers and dirt. She turned around, only to see Sophie’s box of colored pencils sitting on the desk. “Oh.”

 

“What?” Clementine frowned.

 

“That’s what I was looking for.” she pointed to the box. “It belonged to Sophie. Uh… Tenn’s sister. He was asking for more art supplies, so I was going to…”

 

“Oh. Sorry. We didn’t know.” Clementine said, looking sympathetic.

 

“No, no. It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Honestly it’s just been sitting here for the last year and no one’s touched it.” Violet turned away, waving her hand dismissively. “If AJ wants to play with it it’s… it’s fine.”

 

“You should probably give the box back. It doesn’t belong to us.” Clementine said to AJ. AJ looked sad, but he nodded his agreement. Violet thought he was a pretty well tempered kid, growing up in the apocalypse and all.

 

“Thanks buddy.” Violet smiled, stepping forward. “It’s just that Tenn wanted it, since it was his sister’s and all.”

 

“It’s okay…” AJ mumbled, unhappily.

 

“You can finish your drawing though. I don’t mind.” Violet said softly. AJ smiled a little and went back to his drawing. She looked up and saw Clementine’s baseball cap sitting on the dresser, and her backpack leaning against it on the floor. “Oh. I see you’re, um, settling in.”

 

“Yeah. Is that okay?” Clementine asked slowly.

 

“Sure, I guess.” Violet shrugged, walking further into the small room. “I always liked this room. Sophie had like, paintings and shit on the walls. Lots of color. And Minerva… She was really musical. Not like Louis, though. She had actual talent.”

 

Clementine giggled a little, and Violet felt a little like she was betraying Minerva by thinking it was sort of cute.

 

Violet leaned against the ladder of the bunk bed. Her voice was wistful and fond, soft in a way that she only ever used when talking about Minerva. “She had the most amazing voice. Real bluesy. Marlon always joked that he would scavenge a guitar and the two of them would tour the country…”

 

She smiled, and then frowned. “That was a long time ago. After they… Afterwards, Brody and Tenn took down all the paintings and that was the end of it. I shouldn’t have even brought it up. It’s not a good memory…” She hunched her shoulders and crossed her arms, staring sadly at the floor.

 

“They sound like they were great friends.” Clementine offered with a hesitant smile.

 

“Yeah. Sophie was a good friend. And Minnie… We were close. Me and her.” Violet admitted. It felt weird to talk about it with Clementine, someone Violet barely knew. But also sort of therapeutic. Being able to talk about the twins without feeling like a broken record… It was nice.

 

“What exactly happened to them? Sophie and Minerva?” Clementine asked, sitting down on the bed.

 

“They went scavenging with Marlon and Brody out past the safe zone. Didn’t make it back. It happens.” Violet said, and sat down on the bed across from Clementine. “Honestly, I just miss having someone around to talk to. There’s just so many dudes… This place can get a little too bro-town for my liking sometimes. And I’m not exactly like… a people person, you know? I know I sometimes have a habit… have a habit of being a little too harsh.”

 

Violet usually didn’t mind being surrounded by boys. Mitch and Aasim were always nice to her, especially after the twins died, but… Marlon was too unpredictable for Violet’s liking. Sometimes he was friendly, sometimes he was angry. Louis made fun of her at every opportunity, Omar never really spoke to anyone except Louis much.

 

The only other girls were Brody and Ruby, both of whom Violet had trouble connecting with. Both for different reasons. Ruby was too uptight. She was reliable, but often times unpleasant to talk to. Brody was… Well, Brody just reminded Violet of the twins, honestly. It was painful.

 

“You come off alright. I thought you were pretty cool.” Clementine smiled.

 

“Oh. Uh. Thanks, I guess.” Violet breathed, hiding her smile by turning her head. “You were pretty cool too. Out there against those walkers.”

 

“Hey Clem.” AJ gestured to his drawing pridefully. “I’m an artist now.”

 

Clementine stood up and looked over his shoulder. “Not bad, kiddo.” she praised, making him grin even wider. Then she turned expectantly to Violet.

 

“I should be getting back.” she said, dumbly, obviously missing the social cue to say something nice about AJ’s drawing. Honestly, though… She grew up in a boarding school for troubled kids. Then the walker apocalypse, everyone dying at every turn. Could you really blame her for her social awkwardness? She cringed internally at herself. “Thanks again for the box. You’re pretty cool, AJ.” She closed the lid to the box and picked it up by it’s handle. “See ya.” she said on her way out.

 

“See ya.” Clementine echoed, an unreadable expression on her face. Was she disappointed?

 

She pulled the door closed behind her, and took a deep breath. She was definitely not prepared for the emotional trainwreck that conversation just was. Now, she just wanted to go to sleep. After she delivered the goods to Tenn, of course.

 

~~~

 

“You know, I’ve been thinkin’.” Brody said as they walked down the dirt pathway to the river. “I wish we could all go on a road trip together.”

 

“Road trip? Why bother? It’s not like there’s anything worth seeing anymore…” Violet said.

 

“Oh come on. I’m sure there’s plenty of stuff to see. Maybe Clem could show us around! You’re able to get a car working. And you know how to drive!”

 

“Barely.” Violet commented.

 

“Come on, Vi. I’ve never driven in my life, but I’d love to learn.” Brody enthused.

 

“You sure you’d trust my driving? I promise, I don’t usually crash.” Clementine joked.

 

“Oh right.” Brody laughed. “On second thought…”

 

“Yeah. I think Clem just crashed the last working car in the world. So much for your road trip.” Violet said.

 

“Are we going to the car?” AJ asked.

 

“No bud. It’s broken.” Clementine said.

 

“Good. I’m sick of the car.” AJ grumbled. Violet wondered, not for the first time, just how long they’d been on their own. And how they managed to survive, considering Marlon said he didn’t see anything of use in their car except toys and magazines. Magazines for reading, that is.

 

Violet was glad Clementine and AJ wouldn’t be forced back out into the wilderness any time soon. She couldn’t even imagine what that must have been like.

 

They approached the old shack, shoes thumping against the wooden bridge over top of the stream.

 

“I wish _this_ old rust bucket was still working. We could just jump in and start driving.” Brody mused, running her hands along the rusted edge of the truck bed. It really was a rust bucket. It used to be blue, but now was so rusted and broken, it could’ve been mistaken for red. “We could take turns sittin’ in the back. It would be like driving in one of those cars with the top that goes down!”

 

“We’d run out of gas eventually.” Violet pointed out, ever the pessimist.

 

“But still. It’s fun to imagine, isn’t it?” Brody offered. Violet took a deep breath and scoffed, turning and walking a few feet away. “Where would you go, Clem? If you could go anywhere you wanted. If gas wasn’t a problem?”

 

“Or a busted carburetor. Or flat tires. Or the transmission.” Violet listed off.

 

“Buzzkill.” Brody chimed.

 

“I’d drive up one of those long roads that wind around the mountains. Follow it all the way to the top.” Clementine said, dreamily.

 

“You could see over the whole world up there I bet.” Brody mused.

 

“Yeah. Get a nice view of the world while you die of frostbite. Sounds like the dream.” Violet grumbled, crossing her arms.

 

“Come on Vi. Would it kill you to live a little?” Brody accused. Violet narrowed her eyes and hunched her shoulders. “I’ve lived here my entire life. Heck, I’d say I know every inch of these woods. I’d kinda like to un-know it…”

 

“No use dreaming of what could be. We’ve got shit to do.” Violet grumbled, turning to face Brody with a hand on her hip. Believe her, she’d tried dreaming, but all that ever came of that was nightmares. She learned quickly.

 

“Yeah…” Brody frowned, and lead Clementine into the shack. “I guess we better get to work on those fish. We got spears inside the shack. Come on.”

 

“You go ahead. I’ll stay out here.” Violet said, turning her back as Brody lead Clementine and AJ inside.

 

She took a deep breath once she heard the shack door close. It was quiet, alone outside. All she could hear was the sounds of the rushing water and the forest, the wind. She liked it. The solitude. She wished she could’ve come fishing by herself. Or maybe just with Clementine and AJ.

 

At least then, she wouldn’t have to deal with Brody. Sigh. She frowned at the ground and leaned against the wooden fence while she waited for the three of them to come back out.

 

“Hey! What the hell is taking you guys so long?” Violet called after a few minutes. It really should only take a couple seconds to grab the spears. Her mind immediately told her they were probably talking about her. That was the only realistic explanation she could think of. Why else would they spend so long in there?

 

Finally, the door opened, but it was just Brody who came out. She was carrying three spears, and held one out for Violet to take. “Clem and AJ are lookin’ for the last spear. I’m gonna go check the traps.” she said, and then walked away. Violet didn’t bother to respond, just made her way over to the water’s edge.

 

There weren’t a whole lot of fish today, but more than there was the last time she’d gone fishing. She wasted no time before plunging her spear into the water. Sadly, no fish yet.

 

“Can I join you?” Clementine asked from behind her a couple minutes later.

 

“Sure.” Violet shrugged. Clementine stepped up onto the rock beside her, gazing down into the water. “Hey, check out these guys over here.”

 

“They’re swimming against the current.” Clementine observed.

 

“Guess they don’t realize it makes them easier targets.” Violet shrugged.

 

“I wanna try!” AJ grinned, bouncing up and down with excitement.

 

“Take a spear. Go nuts.” Violet smiled. Clementine handed the boy a spear, and he ran off with it. She picked up the last spear from the ground. “Go ahead and try. They’re not running.”

 

Clementine did. “I got... something.” she said, holding up her spear, which had a fish impaled on it.

 

“Good enough for me.” Violet smiled approvingly.

 

Clementine dropped the fish into the bucket and got ready to strike again. She hesitated for a moment, unsure whether she really wanted to continue talking.

 

“Hey um… Sorry if I was weird last night. About the whole room thing. Seeing someone else in there… It was harder than I expected.” she said softly.

 

“I understand.” Clementine assured her. “There are people I still miss too. It never really gets easier.”

 

“Yeah.” Violet breathed, her face feeling hot suddenly. “It really doesn’t.” She hated the way her voice faltered.

 

“Heads up guys!” Brody called from down the stream. “Haul’s not looking that great!”

 

“Uh yeah. Okay.” Violet hollered back, half heartedly. She didn’t really care of Brody heard her. She groaned. “God… Sometimes she just gets on my last nerve. You know?”

 

“Yeah.” Clementine giggled. “I can tell.”

 

“I mean it’s… It’s not like I _hate_ her. It’s just… _‘I wish we could all go on a road trip together.’_ God, she’s so… Ugh!” she mocked.

 

“She _definitely_ thinks you hate her.” Clementine said, basically confirming for Violet that they were talking about her behind her back. She growled and plunged her spear into the water, pulling out a fish impaled on it.

 

After a couple more tries at getting fish, Violet lowered her spear. “Looks like they wisened up. Maybe Brody had more luck with the traps.”

 

“I got one!” AJ grinned, running up to them and holding up his spear pridefully. “Clem! I got one!”

 

“Good job.” Violet smiled, and AJ slid the fish off the spear into the bucket, before running off again to try and catch some more. “...I don’t know what the problem is between us. With Brody, I mean. I don’t know why it’s like this. Why is it so weird? I can _never_ relax around her. It just keeps getting worse.”

 

“Maybe because she never said sorry. About Sophie and Minnie and… not being able to save them.” Clementine said slowly.

 

“She tell you that?” Violet breathed, looking down at the water.

 

“More or less. She wants to talk about it, you know?”

 

“I just… I feel guilty about the whole thing…” Violet admitted.

 

“Why?” Clementine asked, looking surprised. Violet took a deep breath, averting her eyes.

 

“I… _I_ was supposed to be out with the twins that day. _I_ wanted to work in the greenhouse so _I_ asked Brody to cover for me. But then… I didn’t even get to say _goodbye_ … I _wanted_ to talk to Brody. To tell her I didn’t blame her for what happened, but every time I tried I was reminded of who we lost. It was easier to just not talk about it.” Violet finished, noticing Brody coming back up the stream. “We should get going.”

 

“You guys catch anything?” Brody asked, oblivious to the conversation they’d just had.

 

“We caught _some_ , but not a lot.” Clementine frowned.

 

“I didn’t get _anything_. We should catch up with Louis and Aasim. See if they had any better luck.” Brody said. Then, they started walking back towards the school.

 

Violet forced herself to speak up. “The Grand Canyon.”

 

“What?” Brody asked.

 

“That’s where I’d go. If we took a road trip. Start driving till we hit the Grand Canyon.”

 

“Yeah. That _would_ be cool.” Brody smiled, but Violet walked ahead of her, feeling embarrassed for giving in.

 

~~~

 

“Where are those guys?” Clementine asked, wearily. They’d been walking for maybe 20 minutes, and had seen no sign of Aasim or Louis.

 

“Practicing making out with a toothless walker?” Violet offered, turning her head to see Brody’s disgusted expression.

 

“Gross.” Brody commented.

 

“I know. Poor walker.” Violet smiled, making them all laugh. Then, when they came upon their traps, she noticed that a rope was cut, but there was nothing in the trap. “The hell?”

 

“This isn’t normal?” Clementine asked, looking over her shoulder.

 

“Someone sabotaged this.” Violet frowned. “This isn’t good.”

 

“Aasim! Louis?” Brody called, cupping her hands around her mouth.

 

“Spread out. See if we can find them.” Violet ordered, and walked off. She pulled her cleaver out and switched her mind into work mode.

 

“Watch out for monsters.” AJ warned. Violet smiled slightly. It was nice to hear something so innocent from a child every once in a while.

 

As she walked further into their trapped area, she noticed that every single one of the ropes had been cut. She groaned at the idea of having to reset all of them.

 

“Guys! Over here!” Clementine called. Violet rushed over, relieved that Clementine and AJ weren’t in trouble.

 

“Well, we didn’t kill this one. We wouldn’t have left it hanging in our trap.” Violet commented.

 

“What the hell?” Brody breathed, coming up between them.

 

“Found this too.” Clementine said, and held out a cigarette. “Do any of the kids smoke?”

 

“Nope. Nothing to smoke.” Violet shrugged.

 

“Who’s this unlucky fella?” Louis asked, startling Clementine and Brody. Violet had seen them approaching.

 

“Where have you been?” Clementine asked, crossing her arms.

 

“Checking nearby traps.” Aasim said. “The ones that were sprung were all empty. All the rest were broken.”

 

“Someone robbed us?” Brody gasped.

 

“Oh great. And now we’re gonna starve.” Louis complained.

 

“Fuck, thats… Fuck, fuck.” Brody mumbled to herself, walking a few feet away from them. “It’s just… fuck. It’s okay, breathe Brody, fuck. C’mon, c’mon…”

 

“You’re gonna be fine. It’s just a panic attack.” Violet said, stepping closer to her. She was hesitant to touch her, knowing that in the past Brody didn’t react well to being touched during panic attacks.

 

“Take a second. Breathe in deep, and hold it.” Clementine said, trying to soothe her. She stepped closer.

 

“Just shut the fuck up, okay!” Brody snapped, glaring at her. Violet narrowed her eyes, feeling a surge of irritation go through her. They were only trying to help!

 

“Excuse me?” Clementine glared.

 

“...I have to tell Marlon about this.” Brody said, softly. Violet knew she regretted snapping like that.

 

“Um. We still need food. You know, to live. We definitely don’t have enough here.” Louis pointed out.

 

“You guys figure it out.” Brody said harshly, and walked off. Violet frowned at her back, resisting the urge to say something rude.

 

“I’ll take this haul back to the school. Maybe we can… ration out something.” Aasim said, and turned to follow Brody.

 

“So what do we do? Eat rocks?” Louis frowned.

 

“We can’t eat rocks.” AJ pointed out.

 

“I’m aware.” Louis muttered, hands on his hips.

 

“...Will Marlon kick us out if we can’t find food?” AJ asked Clementine, and Violet frowned. No, obviously not. Violet definitely wouldn’t let him even if he tried. She was positive she could get Mitch and Aasim to take her side, too. She didn’t say anything.

 

“Let’s not find out.” Clementine breathed.

 

“Where else could we look?” Louis asked.

 

Clementine took out the map and unfolded it. “Let me think… The train station. It’s not too far from here.”

 

“Maybe. But it’s outside the safe zone.” Violet said, knowing Marlon wouldn’t be happy if they went outside of it.

 

“There was food there when AJ and I passed through. It’s worth a look.” Clementine said.

 

“You sure there was food?” Violet frowned.

 

“Positive. Yeah, some of it _was_ destroyed in the explosion, but there has to be something left. There was _so_ much.” Clementine assured. “...Or we could starve.”

 

Violet and Louis shared a look, and he shrugged.. “Fine. Let’s go.” Violet agreed.

 

~~~

 

“Clem! We’re running out of time! We need to get out of he-” Violet gasped, seeing a stranger waving a gun around inside the train station. Clementine had her hands above her head, and AJ was all but cowering from where he stood in the hole in the floor.

 

“Don’t panic. I was just leavin’.” the man said smoothly, standing and taking one of the bags full of food. He walked towards her, gun pointed right at her face. “Thanks for dinner.” he smiled, before taking off in a sprint to get out before any walkers noticed him.

 

“Who the fuck was that?” Violet asked, turning back to Clementine and AJ, who both looked just as shocked as her.

 

“Just take a bag and fill it up!” Clementine commanded, dropping to her knees as AJ went back below the floor. They frantically shoved as many jars into the bags as they could. Clementine lifted AJ up onto the floor and they ran. “Run now!” she yelled at Louis as they ran past the horde of walkers.

 

“What happened in there?” Louis asked, breathlessly as they ran away.

 

“Just move!” Violet yelled, easily running past him. She may have been shorter, but she was the fastest runner at Ericson.

 

“I’ll tell you on the way!”

 

~~~

 

Violet was relieved to see the stone walls of Ericson. She waved to Mitch, who was on watch duty, and he opened the gate for them.

 

“We were worried…” Mitch commented as they all went in. He locked it after them.

 

“Sorry.” Violet mumbled, still slightly out of breath

 

“Took y’all long enough.” Ruby complained, rubbing her arms by the fire to keep warm.

 

“How poor are they who have not patience?” Louis grinned theatrically. He and Clementine heaved the bags up onto the picnic tables and unzipped them, revealing their haul of canned goods.

 

“Aasim! Mitch! Check it out! Food!” Willie announced, excitedly. Violet smiled at him as he bounced up and down in anticipation. It had been a long time since they’d had this much food.

 

“That’s a lot of food.” Mitch whispered, in awe from beside her.

 

“Observant as ever, Mitch.” Louis smiled.

 

“I can’t believe this. Look at it all!” Aasim cheered.

 

“You’re our savior, Clem.” Willie said, completely serious. Violet shared an amused look with Mitch. Mitch was a bit of a brother figure for Willie. Just like she was a sister figure for Tenn. She wondered where he was, anyway.

 

“Louis and Violet helped too.” Clementine said bashfully.

 

“Neither of _them_ ever brought back _this_ much food.” Aasim pointed out.

 

“Neither have you.” Louis defended.

 

“Where did you find all this?” Brody fretted as she and Marlon approached.

 

“The old train station. Clem knew where it was!” Louis smiled. Violet gave him a bland look. He practically just threw her under the bus!

 

“Train station… That’s outside the safe zone!” Brody said, frustrated.

 

“We’d have even more, but we ran into the creep that fucked up our rabbit traps.” Violet said, crossing her arms. Mitch groaned. Violet knew Mitch was usually the one who was tasked with resetting those damn traps. She helped sometimes, but she had other things to take care of.

 

“Creep? What creep?” Brody asked.

 

“Clem saw him smoking those nasty ass bible cigarettes.” Louis said.

 

“He had, weird, different colored eyes.” Clementine described.

 

“Did he follow you?” Brody asked, worriedly.

 

“No. I… gave him some food, and then lost track of him in a swarm of walkers.” Clementine shrugged.

 

“You just let him take our food? _What the fuck!_ Now he knows we’re out here! He could come back for more!” Brody snapped. “What the hell were you thinking?”

 

“If I hadn’t done what I did, he would’ve shot us! I made the right call!” Clementine said, firmly. Violet nodded her agreement. Violet vaguely noticed the others taking a few jars and walking over to the fire pit, where the bowls and silverware were.

 

“What if there are others? You don’t know what people are capable of out there!” Brody worried.

 

“Think again.” Clementine said darkly. Violet sighed. They had _all_ seen her scars when Marlon first brought her in. Ruby had insisted they check her over for bites. A brand of some kind, on her arm. Lord knows what kind of hell she and AJ had gone through to get here.

 

Brody turned her back and mumbled to herself again. “I just… can’t… I won’t! Not again… Fuck!” Violet could tell she was on the verge of another panic attack, but she couldn’t find any sympathy for her. It wasn’t that big of a deal. The stranger they’d run into didn’t seem like the type to come after them. He was just hungry, right? And, Clementine told her the man said he didn’t have a group.

 

“What the hell’s going on here?” Marlon asked, finally, even though he’d been present the entire time.

 

“She took them outside the safe zone! They _saw_ someone! You know what that means!” Brody’s voice was getting higher and louder, and she was noticeably shaking. Violet sighed, and put a hand on AJ’s shoulder. Thankfully, he didn’t hit her out of surprise. She lead him away from the fighting and towards the campfire, where everyone else was congregated. She watched from afar, but was glad when Louis started talking to AJ so he wouldn’t hear.

 

“Enough!” Marlon boomed, making Brody flinch. It was times like these that Violet really didn’t envy her. She was on the receiving end of Marlon’s anger more than anyone else. “It just means, there’s a hungry guy out there looking for food. It’s happened before. You’re overreacting.”

 

“You can’t be serious…” Brody whispered, backing away.

 

“Come on. Let’s go somewhere and talk about this.” Marlon said, grabbing her arm to keep her from running away. Violet glared at him.

 

Then, Brody shoved Marlon off of her, and he fell to the ground. “If _anything_ happens… I’m holding _you_ responsible!” she declared, glaring daggers at Clementine, before storming off.

 

Marlon stood up and dusted off his jeans. He turned to Clementine and said something Violet couldn’t hear. At least the arguing was over.

 

Within a few minutes, Clementine came to sit down beside Violet at the table. Everyone was eating, and they hadn’t even bothered to wait for Omar to heat it up.

 

“Ever since we lost Sophie and Minnie… Brody’s been freaked out by anything that happens outside the safe zone. She’ll be alright eventually.” Violet said as they all ate.

 

“Still. We should try to make sure this was a one time thing.” Aasim said, standing behind them. “We’ll take Rosie out in the morning. See if she catches a scent. Just in case.” Violet nodded her agreement.

 

“I’m gonna… go clean up.” Violet said, frowning. She took her leave quickly, taking her bowl and setting in on the table in front of Willie so he could eat what she didn’t. Mitch and Aasim waved as she made her way to the graveyard.

 

She crouched down in front of Minerva’s grave, wrapping her arms around her legs, chin resting on bony knees. She didn’t know what to say. Or if she should say anything at all. It wasn’t unusual for her to talk to Minerva, but honestly… what else was there to say?

 

She was just ruminating in her feelings, staring at Minerva’s name carved into a shitty makeshift cross. She sat there for what felt like forever, until Tenn came and told her to go to bed. Sometimes he was the one who took care of her. She didn’t mind.

 

~~~

 

Violet hadn’t been asleep when she heard the ruckus from outside. She could barely hear it over the thunder and rain, but she immediately recognized Marlon’s booming voice. She sat up in her bed, listening to hear anything else.

 

Tenn looked to her from where he was reading on his bed by candle light and she stood up, making sure to grab her cleaver as she opened their bedroom door. “Careful, Tenn.”

 

As she walked through the hallway, the voices got louder. She recognized Clementine’s voice too, yelling.

 

“That’s a lie!” Marlon accused as Violet ran out into the rain. “I saw YOU kill her!”

 

“What the hell is going on?!” Violet asked, stepping up between Mitch and Louis. Everyone had gathered in the middle of the courtyard. The rain was almost deafening, and the lightning was their only source of light. AJ had his gun out, pointed at Marlon. He was the only one standing between Marlon and Clementine.

 

“Look at her hands! She’s covered in Brody’s blood!” Marlon announced. Clementine looked down at her hands, and so did everyone else.

 

“Jesus Christ, Clem…” Aasim breathed.

 

“What did you do?” Tenn gasped. While everyone was distracted, Marlon ran forward, yanking the gun out of AJ’s hands and shoving the little boy to the ground. Louis immediately stooped to help him up.

 

Marlon held the gun in the air, and Violet held out her arms, keeping Tenn, Mitch, Louis, and AJ behind her. Rosie began barking behind Marlon and thunder struck.

 

“We saved their lives! When anyone else would’ve kept walking!” Marlon growled. Everyone stepped back again when he waved the gun in front of their faces. “We fed them. We kept them warm. And this is how they thank us? Guns being pulled, and MURDER! Well fuck them!”

 

He took a few menacing steps towards Clementine, AJ’s gun pointed right at her face.

 

“You shoot me, what do you offer up to your raider friends when they come knocking?” Clementine asked, her stance defensive, like she was ready for anything. Knowing her, she probably was.

 

“What?” Violet hissed, head swiveling so fast to look at Marlon she almost gave herself whiplash.

 

“What the hell is she talking about?” Aasim asked, and Mitch was inching his way forward slowly.

 

“He won’t do it. Because he needs us alive.” Clementine announced.

 

“Shut up!” Marlon gritted his teeth, stepping forward with the gun.

 

“Brody told me! Marlon was gonna give me and AJ up to the raiders in exchange for safety!” she continued, turning to face everyone watching the spectacle.  “The same way he gave up _Sophie and Minnie_.” Tenn gasped, and looked between Clementine and Marlon, not knowing who to believe. His eyes were wide and he was trembling.

 

Violet was struck by this information. Her wide eyes were glued to Marlon. She wanted to trust him, to believe that it wasn’t true…

 

“Oh my God…” Ruby breathed.

 

“Shut the _fuck_ up, Clementine!” Marlon screamed. He wasn’t denying it...

 

“Let her talk!” Aasim asserted.

 

“Brody told me the truth! And that’s when Marlon killed her!” Clementine said. “He hit her so hard her head split open!”

 

“Oh my God…” Ruby gasped.

 

“Oh _come_ on!” Marlon yelled, and started pacing around. The gun never strayed from Clementine’s head. “They only met up with these ‘raiders’ because _Clem_ insisted they go out there! Quite the coincidence. Shame I don’t believe in those! The first thing she did was attack you, Tenn.

 

“Think of how scared we all were when the adults left. I pulled us out of that fear. I gave us all courage again! Who are y’all gonna believe? Johnny-come-lately and her little fucking _lunatic_ ? Or me? Your _friend_!”

 

“She did help us get food…” Mitch reasoned.

 

“What good is food if someone else is just gonna come along and take it?” Aasim questioned.

 

“Violet, you have to believe me!” Clementine pleaded. She looked up at her, startled at having her name brought into this.

 

“You don’t.” Marlon said. “You met her like _two days ago!_ ”

 

“I don’t know you Clem… Not really.” Violet breathed, hating herself with every word.

 

“This isn’t like you! I _know_ you’re not weak!” Clementine yelled.

 

“Don’t let her get in your head.” Marlon said, looking her in the eyes. “Hey… What would _Minnie_ want you to do? She was my friend, too. And so was _Brody_.”

 

“Clem, I…” Violet tried, her voice faltering. Marlon really did know how to break down her defenses. “Shit…”

 

“We’ll all feel safer when I pull this trigger.” Marlon declared.

 

“If you were there the day those raiders came, he would’ve abandoned _you_ too!” Clementine insisted.

 

Violet glared at her shoes, and then at Marlon. She knew it was true. Marlon gave away Minnie and Sophie… He killed Brody… Did he care about any of them at all? Or just himself…

 

She stepped forward, placing herself between Marlon and Clementine. She looked right down the barrel of the gun in Marlon’s hand, and pulled her cleaver out of its sheath. “Violet being difficult… Why am I not surprised?” Marlon sighed.

 

“Put down the gun. Now. We’re gonna do this the right way.” Violet said, glaring at him. Her hands were shaking, but she couldn’t let this stand. She couldn’t let Marlon hurt anyone else.

 

“Stand down, Marlon.” Aasim said, stepping forward to her aid. “Be reasonable.” Mitch, Omar, and Louis stepped forward too, forcing Marlon to walk backwards.

 

“You don’t get it.” Marlon cried. “You don’t understand at all, do you? I’m trying… to PROTECT you!” He aimed the gun in all of their faces, making them all flinch back a little.

 

“He’s lying to you.” Clementine glared, stepping in front of Violet. “He can’t, or WON’T, protect you! Look what he did to Brody. To Sophie, and Minerva!”

 

“Shut your fucking mouth!” Marlon screamed, waving the gun around more. “I made the right call! I saved the lives of everyone in this fucking school! If they came back… _I’d do it again!_ ”

 

“What!” Willie yelled.

 

“Didn’t realize we’re so fuckin’ expendable!” Aasim yelled.

 

“You’re a dick!” Mitch accused.

 

“You told me they were dead!” Tenn yelled. Marlon looked at him, and at least had the decency to look ashamed.

 

“I… had to save the rest of you…”

 

“You gave my sisters away! Why would you do something like that? I trusted you, Marlon.” Tenn cried, and stepped forward again.

 

“He was in a tight spot. He did the wrong thing, but he thought it was for the right reason. But that shouldn’t mean he doesn’t have to pay for it…” Clementine said.

 

“I wanted to get them. Stage some kind of rescue. Honest Tenn… I just couldn’t. I was… too afraid.” Marlon admitted, lowering the gun.

 

“You killed Brody… because she _knew_?” Tenn asked, tears running down his face.

 

“I didn’t mean to… I didn’t want this…” Marlon cried, his voice wavering and tears forming in his eyes. “I wanted to save all of you… Sophie… _Minerva…_ ”

 

“We can still fix this, Marlon.” Clementine said. “It’s going to be okay. We can make this right.”

 

“We’ll help you. We’re all family here. The only one any of us has left!” Louis said, his voice softening for his best friend.

 

Marlon dropped the gun. Violet could see the _moment_ the fight went out of him, and her heart hurt. He was her family… “I know I betrayed you… All of you… Just let me leave. You’ll never have to see me again.” He stepped forward, his head lowered in shame. “Just let me become… a bad memory…”

 

Clementine sighed. “Fine-”

 

The shot was loud, almost deafening. The shot went straight through his forehead. His eyes had been open. Clementine caught him as he fell, and then dropped him on the ground.

 

“I saved one for myself.” AJ said, as if he didn’t understand what he’d done wrong. The teens just gaped at him with wide eyes.

 

“No!” Louis shouted, stepping forward as if he could have stopped it.

 

“Oh my God…” Omar gasped.

 

“Shit!” Violet cursed.

 

“We could get medicine… From the nurses office?” Ruby tried, hopelessly.

 

“He’s dead… That kid blew his brains out!” Mitch exclaimed.

 

“You shot him. He’s dead. You’re a murderer.” Louis breathed. “You got Marlon to give up… You saw how broken he was.” Then Louis turned to Clementine, appalled. “What the fuck did you teach this kid?!”

 

Everyone stepped forward, angrily. They surrounded Clementine and AJ. Mitch looked pissed, a harsh glare on his face and balled fists.

 

“Back off. All of you!” Violet said, raising her cleaver and putting herself between everyone and AJ. He was just a kid…

 

“You talked Marlon down… And then you fucking murdered him!” Louis accused, pointing his finger at Clementine and AJ.

 

“Take AJ. Go inside.” Violet ordered.

 

“Oh, just let them go back to the dorms?” Louis questioned. “What happens the next time any of us does something that kid doesn’t like? Should we expect a bullet too?”

 

“That’s not what happened.” Violet defended.

 

“It’s _exactly_ what happened. Till little mister trigger happy decided otherwise!” Louis glared.

 

“Just back off, Louis.” Violet breathed.

 

“Back off? Seriously?” Louis shook his head, and walked away.

 

“For God’s sake, someone help me with this!” Ruby cried, crouching down to examine Marlon’s body. Aasim put a hand on her shoulder, shaking his head. There was nothing they could do anymore. It was done.

 

“Saved you from that car crash, and you fucking murdered him!” Mitch accused when Clementine and AJ tried to walk away.

 

“Get back, Mitch!” Clementine warned.

 

“Or what?” he dared, pulling out his knife. “You gonna let him kill me too? Then who? Aasim, Willie? Violet?”

 

“He wouldn’t do that! Haven’t enough people died tonight?” Clementine tried. “Brody, Marlon… We can’t keep killing each other!”

 

“How the fuck are you sayin’ that to me after what he did?” Mitch glared, but lowered his weapon. “Screw both of you…” Violet watched sadly as he walked back towards Marlon, kneeling before him. Clementine lead AJ back inside the dorm building, and Violet practically deflated. She hunched her shoulders and crossed her arms, leaning against a lamp post.

 

Well, what now? Marlon and Brody were dead. They apparently had raider kidnappers on their tail, and nobody knew what to do with Clementine and AJ… She couldn’t stop thinking about Sophie and Minerva. If what Clementine said was true… Did she even feel bad for Marlon? Did he deserve it? Or was this just karma for his wrongdoings a year ago?

 

She was glad the rain somewhat hid her tears. Her hair was sticking to her face as she watched everyone gathered around Marlon’s corpse. At least he wouldn’t reanimate.

 

Violet only allowed herself a couple minutes to feel bad, before she sorted it out. She needed to focus on what to do next. The funeral. The graves. She pushed off the lamp post, forcing herself to get to work. She knew she wouldn’t sleep tonight anyway.

 

“Where are _you_ going?” Mitch asked, noticing her departure.

 

“Graves.” she muttered as she walked away. Better get started. Spoons and bowls was a terrible, undignified way of digging a grave, but it had to be done. Her head was starting to pound and the rain was almost deafening. She was sure tears were still falling from her eyes but the rain and the darkness disguised her.

 

It was a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lets be real, everyone's crushing on violet at least a little bit


	2. Episode 2

When the time came for the funeral to start, the rain had cleared up, leaving behind wet grass, mud, and bright blue skies.

 

Violet had worked all night, until Louis and Aasim forced her to let them take over. Her arms felt like they were ready to fall off, her feet hurt, and she was covered in dirt. Her hair was messy and the bags under her eyes made her look years older.

 

“Oh God… They’re here…” Aasim grumbled. Violet turned her attention from the newly marked graves to see that Tenn had returned with Clementine and AJ. They were standing at the entrance to the graveyard, unsure of whether or not they were welcome.

 

“So what? They knew Brody, didn’t they?” Violet sighed, crossing her arms.

 

“Yeah, but… Marlon…” Omar shook his head.

 

“Just leave them alone.” Violet said, her tone dull. Mitch glared at her, but didn't say anything.

 

“Shit…” Louis breathed, shaking his head and turning away from Clementine.

 

Violet heard AJ asking about funerals to Clementine as people started paying their respects to Brody and Marlon. Violet stepped back and let everyone talk. They shared memories or little stories, and Violet found herself becoming numb to her emotions.

 

“Tenn, you ready?” she asked, when Omar finished. Tenn nodded and stepped in front of Brody’s grave. His expression was sad, and Violet could tell he’d been crying, just like she had been. Marlon had reopened their emotional wounds relating to the twins.

 

“Brody. You always said you wanted to go to the beach. So, I drew it for you.” he said, and laid his drawing down on the mound of dirt in front of the wooden cross. Violet forced a smile at him, and he stepped back.

 

She stood in front of Marlon’s grave, really not knowing what to say. Maybe she was cruel to not feel bad for him, but she really didn’t. He gave up Sophie and Minnie. He gave them to the raiders… Who knows what happened to them after that? She’d been trying not to think about that all night and morning.

 

“Marlon was…” she tried, but lowered her head and scoffed. “I can’t. Not for Marlon. After what he did to the twins, and Brody… I-”

 

“You didn’t even like Brody!” Willie pointed out, crossing his arms. “You were always mean to her…”

 

Violet sighed. “I can’t. Someone else do it.” She walked away.

 

“Bitch…” she heard Mitch comment as she went by. She frowned and hunched her shoulders.

 

“Dude, don’t.” Louis defended her.

 

“Seriously, Louis? He was your _best friend_! He wasn’t perfect, but he didn’t deserve to be gunned down by that kid! AJ killed him like it was nothing!” Mitch declared, turning to face AJ and Clementine. “We all saw it. No one stopped him.”

 

“You’re right Mitch. Marlon didn’t deserve what AJ did to him.” Clementine admitted, looking him in the eyes.

 

“I know what I did. I’m sorry.” AJ bowed his head. His voice gave away his guilt, and Violet wished they’d all just give him a break. He was just a kid… He didn’t know right from wrong yet. “I know I’m a murderer. But I’m gonna a… a…”

 

“Atone.” Clementine finished.

 

“Yeah. I’m gonna atone it.” he said, nervously.

 

“Fuck, I can’t listen to this.” Louis sighed, and walked past AJ.

 

“What I did was bad, and I’m gonna make it up to you. I promise!” AJ said.

 

“You don’t have to make up shit.” Violet snapped. “Marlon was a fucking _murderer_ and a _liar_. And if we’d all asked more questions about Sophie and Minnie disappearing last year, none of this would’ve happened!”

 

“She has a point…” Aasim admitted.

 

“Shut up! It wasn’t Marlon’s fault!” Willie yelled.

 

“Whatever happened before… AJ shouldn’t have killed Marlon.” Clementine said, looking down at AJ expectantly.

 

“Yeah. He wasn’t hurting anybody when I killed him.” AJ said, regretfully.

 

“See what I mean? How can any of us trust these fucking people?” Mitch growled, taking a menacing step towards the little boy.

 

“What are you saying?” Violet asked wearily.

 

“I’m saying, they gotta fucking go.” Mitch glared. “We take a vote. Majority decides. They stay, or they leave. Today.”

 

“That does seem fair.” Ruby nodded, angrily.

 

“Are you serious?” Aasim gaped. “That’s bullshit.”

 

“ _You’re_ bullshit!” Willie accused.

 

“Please, don’t do this!” Clementine pleaded. “I know you’re angry but-”

 

“You don’t know shit!” Mitch interrupted her. “If you did, you would have stopped AJ!”

 

“Like you stopped Marlon from killing Brody? Fucking hypocrite!” Aasim accused, always one to say what was on his mind.

 

“...A vote’s the only way to settle this, or we’ll be arguing forever.” Omar said.

 

“Fine.” Violet scoffed. “I guess we’re fucking voting.” She turned to Tenn, her voice softening for him. “Louis needs to vote. Could you go get him? And… try to talk to him.”

 

Tenn tried to call Rosie to follow him, but the dog only whimpered and laid down on Marlon’s grave, sadly. Tenn frowned and shook his head before walking out of the graveyard.

 

“Could you guys go wait in the dorm?” Violet asked, tiredly. “I’ll come get you.”

 

Clementine and AJ shared a look, and nodded, before turning around and walking away. AJ stopped and turned to look back at everyone. “...Please don’t kick us out.” he pleaded. He looked so small and scared… Violet couldn’t imagine what horrors he’d seen out in the wilderness.

 

“...Come on. Let’s go.” Clementine gently pulled him along, leading him back to the dorm building.

 

~~~

 

“We took the vote.” Violet said, regretfully. “You have to leave.”

 

Clementine and AJ stood before her, Louis just behind her in the open doorway. She had argued for them to stay, but aside from Tenn and Aasim… nobody took her side.

 

She found herself second guessing her friendships with the other kids… Did they really not care about Sophie and Minnie? Or Brody? Hell, Violet and Brody never really got along, but even _she_ knew Marlon was an abusive asshole who deserved what he got.

 

“Don’t _we_ get to vote?” AJ asked, sadly. “I vote that we stay…”

 

“That’s not how it works.” Louis frowned, crossing his arms and leaning against the shelf.

 

“Maybe it _should_ be.” Violet muttered.

 

“ _You_ don’t have to like it.” Louis glared.

 

“Good, cause I don’t!” she snapped back. She took a breath, and turned back to Clementine, who had been silent the whole time. She was just glaring at her shoes. “Seriously, nothing? You _know_ this is fucking wrong, and you’re not gonna fight it at all?”

 

“There’s nothing _to_ fight. We already decided.” Louis said, hands on his hips.

 

“You can be such a shithead, Louis.” Violet growled. “So fucking stupid…”

 

“You said you’d go along with it if we voted fairly.” Louis scolded.

 

“It’s bullshit. And you’d know it if you weren’t so used to burying your head in the sand.” Violet accused, crossing her arms and glaring daggers at him.

 

“Oh, I’m burying _my_ head in the sand? Hate Marlon all you want, but you can’t tell me AJ isn’t dangerous too!” Louis argued, pointing a finger at the little boy. He at least had the decency to look guilty immediately after.

 

Violet sighed, “We’ll wait for you to pack up, and I’ll escort you out past the safe zone. We’ll make sure you get to the road safely…”

 

“We don’t want your help.” Clementine glowered. Violet felt a pang in her chest at that, but she knew she deserved it. She took a deep breath and lowered her head.

 

“It’s their fault we gotta leave! They’re gonna get rid of us!” AJ yelled in a fit of anger.

 

“Get him under control.” Louis ordered.

 

“AJ, breathe.” Clementine reminded him. AJ took a few deep breaths, but he was still pouting. Violet wished Willie could calm down that fast.

 

“...Where’s Tenn? I gotta say goodbye…” AJ frowned, stepping forward and playing with his fingers.

 

Violet’s expression softened. She really hated to see Tenn lose the only friend he had that was his age. Tenn and Willie had never _really_ gotten along too well… “He was really upset about the vote, and he’s not talking to anybody. It’s best to leave him alone when he’s like this, but… for the record, he wanted you to stay.”

 

“Wait, does AJ still have that gun?” Louis asked suddenly, as if just remembering it existed. AJ walked over to Clementine’s backpack and pulled out the revolver, holding it up for him to see. “Hand it over.”

 

“Is this really necessary?” Violet sighed.

 

“Hell yes, it’s necessary. I’m not walking out into the woods with him holding this thing.” Louis grumbled.

 

“It’s _yours_ , AJ.” Clementine glared. “You should keep it.” Louis retracted his hand and glared right back at her.

 

“But I murdered Marlon with it…” AJ mumbled, guiltily.

 

“Yeah, but you’ll need protection outside.” Clementine said firmly. AJ tucked it into the back of his pants.

 

“Fine, let the kid keep the murder weapon.” Louis breathed incredulously. Violet glared at him. It was _their_ damn gun! What right did Louis have to take it from them right before they were going to leave?

 

Clementine shouldered her little backpack, and put on her baseball cap. She took a lingering look around the room, and Violet did too. She noticed a few things that hadn’t been in there the last time she’d visited. A couple animal skulls, some drawings on the wall, and a potted plant. Clementine was really settling in… and now she was being uprooted. Shame.

 

Without another word, Clementine walked right past them, AJ following her without question. She took a deep breath and followed them out into the hallway.

 

The other teens were scattered around the courtyard, but they all stopped to stare at the four of them as they exited the gates of Ericson. Violet glared at Mitch, who was on guard duty. He returned the look full force.

 

“Will we get another car?” AJ asked as they walked along the dirt path through the woods.

 

“Probably not. We got lucky before.” Clementine replied, monotonously.

 

“So we’re walking… My shoes are gonna break.” AJ complained.

 

“Well, we’ll have to hope they hold out.”

 

“My feet are gonna _bleed_ again…” AJ pouted. Violet frowned and bowed her head. She really hated to send them out again...

 

“We’ll tear up a shirt and tie them up if we have to.” Clementine said, as if she’d done it before.

 

“It’s not so bad.” Louis commented, and Clementine turned her head to glare at him. “I mean… you’ve done this before. You’ve gotta be pretty good at it by now. It’s almost like going home for you guys, right?”

 

“Don’t pretend you give a shit.” Clementine scoffed.

 

Violet took a deep breath, trying to refrain from saying anything she might regret. She stopped walking, causing the rest of the group to stop as well. “We’re here. Road’s that way.” She tilted her head to gesture to it. “Anything you wanna say before we go?”

 

“I’ve said plenty.” Louis sighed.

 

“Thanks for… tryina keep us…” AJ said sadly.

 

“You’re welcome. I wish you could stay.” Violet breathed. “I didn’t want this.”

 

“Come on, let’s just go.” Louis said impatiently.

 

“Just give us a minute.” Violet snapped.

 

“I wish we hadn’t fucked it up.” Clementine frowned, glaring at the ground.

 

“You didn’t. Marlon did. Even dead, he’s still ruining shit.” Violet scoffed.

 

“Jesus Violet! Give him some fucking peace!” Louis snapped. A bastard like Marlon didn’t deserve it after all he’d done...

 

“Just… stay safe. Both of you.” Violet muttered, and turned around. She forced herself to walk away, knowing if she didn’t, she might have done something stupid like ask to go with them.

 

She was overthinking every step she took, as she got farther and farther away from Clementine. What was she even doing? Returning to this group… Tenn was the only one who truly cared about her, she could see that now. Maybe Aasim, too. She _thought_ Mitch was her friend but… she wasn’t so sure. She wasn’t sure of anything anymore.

 

She had only gotten maybe half way back when she heard the shot. It was loud, much louder than AJ’s revolver would’ve been. She froze, and turned to look at Louis, who was a few yards behind her.

 

“Come on!” she ordered, breaking out into a sprint back towards Clementine and AJ. They both ran as quietly as they could, and Violet held an arm out to stop Louis as Clementine came into view. She was standing over that man they’d run into at the train station, knife in hand. Violet couldn’t see AJ.

 

“Tough little bitch, aren’t ya?” he grumbled, laying on his back in the dirt.

 

“Just walk away! We’ll let you go.” Clementine tried, but the girl gasped when the barrel of a gun pressed against the back of her head. Violet and Louis hid behind some bushes, and Violet weighed her options.

 

The man stood up and grinned at Clementine, before hitting her in the stomach, making her double over. Then, the woman kicked her to the ground from behind. Violet wanted so badly to rush in. To send two arrows right into those raider’s heads… But it was risky.

 

She watched worriedly as the woman pressed her filthy boot down on Clementine’s neck, forcing her face into the dirt. The man kicked her knife out of her reach.

 

Then, AJ jumped out from behind a tree, pointing the gun right at the man. “I wouldn’t, boy! Any closer and your friend might get her head blown off.” the man warned.

 

“Abel.” the woman said in a warning tone. So, she was the one in charge?

 

“Good to see ya again, squirt.” Abel smiled, before using the barrel of his gun to slap AJ across the face.

 

“Don’t!” Clementine growled. Louis was practically holding Violet back at this point. His fingers were digging into her arm and she knew there would be bruises later, but she really wanted to fuck those guys up… After what had happened to Sophie and Minerva… And now Clementine and AJ.

 

“I’ve seen these ones before. Fighters, both of ‘em. You’ll like ‘em.” Abel smiled, speaking to the woman. He grabbed AJ’s arm and roughly hauled him to his feet.

 

“We’re looking for a kid. Runs a community near here.” the woman said, all business.

 

“Marlon.” Abel supplied.

 

“He’s dead.” Clementine ground out.

 

“Shit…” the woman cursed.

 

“This can still work.” Abel insisted.

 

“How ‘bout it? You wanna take us back to your school? Help us talk to your friends?” the woman offered. “It’s not like you have many other options…”

 

“It’s not my school…” Clementine said. “I don’t live there.”

 

The woman frowned and ground her foot harder into Clementine’s neck. “I find that very hard to believe. Not a lot of kid communes around here.”

 

“Aah!” AJ hissed as Abel twisted his arm backwards harshly.

 

“Don’t!” Clementine pleaded. “Let him go! Please!” AJ cried out again as Abel twisted his arm harder.

 

“Sure. If you do like we ask. Otherwise I’m happy to crack his head open.” Abel rasped. “You ever seen old fruit explode after you throw it at somethin’? Cause that’s just how it’ll look.”

 

Then, the woman kicked her, sending her sprawling out on her back in the dirt. “Clementine!” AJ yelled.

 

“Oh my God…” the woman breathed when she got a good look at Clementine’s face. “Clementine… it’s… you? My name is Lily. You probably don’t remember me.” They knew each other?

 

“Lily? I thought you died.” Clementine exhaled.

 

“What the fuck…” Louis breathed from beside Violet. She shrugged.

 

“I came close.” Lily admitted. She lowered her gun and held a hand out to help Clementine up.

 

“What the hell?” Abel asked.

 

“Not now.” Lily sighed. Clementine accepted her hand and stood up. Abel loosened his grip on AJ, though he didn’t let go. “Lee isn’t with you.” she observed. Clementine crossed her arms and averted her eyes. “So he’s dead then. I’ll never forget him leaving me on the side of the road to die. Not that I blame him, though. I was clearly a threat to the group after I shot that girl.”

 

“Carley.” Clementine said, glaring up at Lily.

 

“Lee should’ve left _you_ behind too. Might’ve lived longer if he did.” Lily said nastily. Violet huffed from her crouched spot in the bushes. She didn’t know who this lady thought she was, but that was a fucked up thing to say to someone… “Same thing will happen to you. If you repeat his mistakes. You may be able to keep this up a while longer, but eventually he’ll slow you down. A walker you didn’t spot. A bullet you couldn’t dodge. A desperate cry for help that brings the herd…”

 

“I don’t think so.” Clementine glared, stepping forward. “AJ knows how to handle himself.”

 

“He’s got spirit. I’ll give you that. But you and I both know that won’t be enough.” Lily frowned.

 

“We don’t have time for all this.” Abel complained.

 

“We’ve got history.” Lily muttered.

 

“Great. You know her, I know her. Point is, we got a job to do.” Abel pointed out. So, Lily wasn’t in charge then? They were just the henchmen…

 

“We can help you raise that boy, Clementine.” Lily offered. “But we need _you_ to do something for _us_.”

 

“Like what? Help you kidnap a couple more kids?” Clementine scoffed.

 

“We don’t need a couple. We need all of you.” Abel said.

 

“We’ll take you back to the Delta to join our group.” Lily proposed. “We have walls. We have working solar panels, and we grow our own food. All we need from you is to go back to your friends, and convince them to come peacefully. No one will be harmed.”

 

“I’m not Marlon.” Clementine frowned. Violet finally came to a decision. She needed to step in, now. Clementine was in trouble, and soon their entire school would be, too.

 

“Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll take the little squirt here right now. That way, I’m sure you’ll play nice.” Abel smiled. Clementine looked over Abel’s shoulder and they made eye contact as Violet lined up a shot with Marlon’s old compound bow.

 

“Be smart about this, Clementine.” Lily advised. “It’s an us or them kind of world now. If you want to save your little one, you _won’t_ pick them.”

 

Suddenly, Clementine was cupping her hands around her mouth and calling out to them, “Run!” Violet gasped, and lowered her bow as they were spotted by Lily and Abel. Louis bolted, and she wasn’t far behind him. She had to trust Clementine, even if she absolutely hated it.

 

She could hear sounds of gunfire from behind her and tears were blurring her vision. She really hoped those bullets didn’t find a home in Clementine or AJ...

 

Louis had grabbed her wrist and was now practically leading her away as they sprinted back to Ericson. She wanted so badly to turn around and go back… Just to make sure they were okay… This was her fault.

 

She hadn’t tried hard enough to let them stay. If they hadn’t been kicked out, they never would’ve run into those raiders… Fuck.

 

~~~

 

“Violet! Louis! They’re back!” Willie yelled too loudly as he entered the admin building.

 

Violet stood from where she was sitting on the stairs. Her hair was messy and she had only just stopped watching for them out by the gate. She only did because Mitch told her to fuck off and rest. She figured that was his… special way of trying to take care of her. Or maybe he just wanted her to go away…

 

“They’re okay?” Violet gasped. Louis rushed out the door to go get them.

 

“There was another person with them. He was wearing skin or something... but…” Willie shook his head. “AJ looked hurt.”

 

“He’s hurt?” Violet frowned, worriedly.

 

“I’ll take a look at him.” Ruby assured. A minute later, Louis was rushing back inside, carrying AJ’s weak body in his arms. There was blood soaking his abdomen through his sweater. Looked like a gunshot wound. “Let me see. I have what I need upstairs. Come on.”

 

“We got the shrapnel out of him.” Clementine said on their way up the stairs.

 

“We?” Ruby asked.

 

“It’s… a long story.” Clementine shook her head. Violet just followed anxiously behind. Once up the stairs, Louis laid AJ down on the couch in the hallway, and stepped out of the way. Ruby bent down and felt AJ’s forehead with the back of her hand.

 

“He’s runnin’ a fever. Body’s trying to fight the infection, poor little guy.” she reported.

 

“Ruby and Louis will take care of him. You come with me. We should talk in the office.” Violet said, turning away.

 

“Clem?” AJ asked, probably worried at the prospect of Clementine leaving him alone.

 

“Sh… You just try and rest, okay? We’re gonna fix you right up.” Ruby cooed, but stepped back to make room for Clementine.

 

“AJ, listen to Ruby, okay? She’ll look after you.” Clementine assured him. “Come on, what do we do when we’re scared? When fear tries to get the upper hand?”

 

“We tell it to fuck off!” AJ announced. Violet raised her eyebrows, but smiled. Usually AJ was so tight lipped about swears… “I… I’m good now.”

 

Clementine stood up, and let Ruby take her place again. “Clementine, please. We need to talk.” Violet sighed, and lead her into the headmaster’s office. She shut the door behind them. “What happened out in the woods… I saw they had you pinned and I… Shit, I got so crazy… When you called for help, I didn’t even think. But when you told us to run… I had to trust you. Thank you… for protecting us. I… really thought you were dead, Clem.”

 

“It’s really good to see you again.” Clementine smiled.

 

“It’s good to see you too.” Violet breathed, and frowned. “I just wish Mitch and the others felt the same. Louis and I told them what happened in the woods. That woman who attacked you. I-”

 

“Lily.” Clementine glowered.

 

“So you do know her.” Violet said softly. “I was wondering. Who the hell is she?”

 

“I wouldn’t have recognized her if she hadn’t recognized me first. We were in a group together, a long time ago.” Clementine admitted.

 

“Hope it was a different kind of group. One that didn’t fucking steal people.” Violet muttered, stepping behind the desk and falling into the comfy leather chair.

 

“Come on. You know it was different.” she defended. Violet crossed her arms. “She murdered someone in our group. Gunned them down during an argument. Carley was her name. She refused to let Lily push her around. It was right at the start. I haven’t seen her since.”

 

“...I believe you.” Violet sighed.

 

“But?”

 

“There’s something else. Willie said someone was with you at the gates?” Violet asked.

 

“James. He saved me and AJ. He let us stay at his camp for the night.” Clementine nodded.

 

“But why did you bring him here? You led him right to us.” Violet frowned. “I mean, he’s a stranger, Clem. Running into those two in the woods, it proved we can’t trust anybody.”

 

“You don’t have to worry about James. We can trust him.” Clementine said, firmly.

 

“Willie said he was wearing, I don’t know… animal skins, or something?” Violet asked.

 

“He was wearing walker skin. That’s how he gets past herds. He can guide them, too.” Clementine said.

 

“Ugh. Wow. Okay…” Violet scratched her neck. She couldn’t imagine how gross it must be to wear walker skin… That used to be people skin…

 

“I wouldn’t have brought him here if I thought he was a threat.” Clementine insisted.

 

“It’s not that I don’t trust you. I’m just worried about the others and what they might do.” Violet shrugged. “They didn’t even get a chance to mourn Brody and Marlon before these child-snatching assholes showed up. And then you two come back after we thought you were dead; now they’re confused, and no one knows how to feel about AJ…”

 

“Violet, AJ is the least of their worries.” Clementine declared, leaning forward with both hands braced on the desk.

 

“I know, but everything is such a mess. They’re scared and angry, and looking for someone to blame.” Violet breathed. “I mean, they kicked you out. How am I supposed to make them change their minds about you? It was decided, five to three against. I know it feels like it shouldn’t matter, but they were afraid of you. Both of you. The last thing they need is more things to fear right now…”

 

“You’re sitting in Marlon’s chair now, aren’t you? You’re their leader now. They’ll listen to you.” Clementine tried.

 

“They don’t though.” Violet shook her head. “They only listen when they want to.”

 

“Well, they’ll have to start. If they want to survive what’s coming.” Clementine said, turning away. “...James told me what Lily and Abel will do next. He said they’ll get more guns, and attack us. Take everyone here.”

 

“How the hell would he know?” Violet asked, wearily.

 

“He’s watched them for a while.” Clementine said. “They’re at war with another community. They take people to fight for them.”

 

“Is that what happened to Minnie and Sophie?” Violet asked softly, looking down at her hands. “They turned them into soldiers?”

 

“Yeah. It’ll happen to us too, if we don’t stop them.”

 

“Minnie didn’t even like killing walkers.” Violet shook her head sadly.

 

Clementine crossed her arms in thought, wandering over to the open balcony. “Look at this place. It’s a fortress. With a little work, we could make this place really hard to attack.”

 

Violet stood up and looked out the balcony beside her. “Do you actually know how to do that?”

 

“Yeah, I was part of a siege once in a town called Richmond. Let me show you.” Clementine said, pulling out Marlon’s map of Ericson. A siege? What kind of life has this girl lived?

 

Within a couple minutes, Clementine had laid out a plan of how to fortify the place. From using barbed wire from the greenhouse to flipping picnic tables in the courtyard to provide cover. And using traps to lure in attackers to the admin building’s main central staircase… She was pretty good at strategizing.

 

“Well, you guys don’t use the greenhouse anymore, do you?” Clementine asked, pointing to it on the map.

 

“No. Used to. Then we lost someone out there. Walkers overran the place and Marlon wouldn’t let us go back. Safe zone.” Violet sighed.

 

“We need to get that barbed wire so they can’t climb the walls.” Clementine frowned. “I’ll go.”

 

“Are you sure? It’s gonna be swarming with walkers by now.” Violet pointed out.

 

“Okay, what the hell’s going on?!” Mitch asked, suddenly throwing open the doors to the office and storming in. “Willie told me she was back, but I was like, no way! Violet wouldn’t just go against what we all decided…”

 

“Sh! Would you keep it down? The little boy is asleep!” Ruby scolded, closing the doors as quietly as she could. “The fever’s already going down, Clem. He’s gonna be okay.”

 

“Great, now we’re just giving them our medicine, too?” Mitch scoffed.

 

“Mitch, those raiders are getting ready to attack the school. We need Clem’s help.” Violet declared, stepping between Mitch and Clementine.

 

“The hell we do! For all we know, she’s one of them!” Mitch glowered, pointing a finger at her.

 

“She’s not! If you saw their leader’s boot on Clem’s neck, you’d know that!” Violet glared.

 

“Use your head, Mitch. You saw AJ on your way in! If I’m with the raiders, why would they have hurt him like that?” Clementine asked, stepping forward and getting in Mitch’s face. He was taller, but she was more confident.

 

“How would I know? Maybe he shot one of their friends.”

 

“Mitch!” Ruby snapped.

 

Violet frowned and stepped between Clementine and Mitch, again, forcing Mitch to back up. “Clem’s going to the greenhouse to find barbed wire and anything else she thinks we’ll need for the fight. And you’re going with her.”

 

“Uh, no I’m not.” Mitch shook his head, grimacing in disbelief.

 

“Yes, you are.” Violet glared, standing up to her full height and getting in his face. This tactic seemed to work for Marlon… “It’s too dangerous for her to go by herself, and you’re good in a fight.”

 

“I can go, too.” Ruby volunteered. “You know, to keep the peace.”

 

“Fuck, Vi…” Mitch sighed. “Since when are you the one makin’ calls?” He shoved her shoulder, making Ruby gasp. That girl had always hated fights.

 

Violet turned around and paced. “Since no one else stepped the fuck up.” she scoffed. “These two will meet you at the gate and you can head to the greenhouse once I’ve explained the situation.”

 

“...I’ll see you there.” Clementine said, walking right past Mitch and through the heavy doors back out into the hallway.

 

“The raiders…” Violet started. “Clem ran into someone in the woods, named James. Said he’s been watching them. The raiders have some sort of… war, going on with another group. They kidnap people to fight for them…”

 

“Jesus…” Ruby gasped.

 

“...That’s what happened to Sophie and Minnie, I guess.” Violet shrugged, looking down sadly. “And it’s what will happen to us without Clem’s help.”

 

“Bullshit. We don’t need her.” Mitch insisted.

 

Violet sighed, and leaned back onto the desk, crossing her arms. “Look, I know you guys don’t like Clem right now, but we _do_ need her. She knows more about this kind of thing than any of us.”

 

“How can we trust her?” Mitch asked, seriously. He stood only a couple feet in front of her, arms crossed and shoulders hunched. He was pouting, obviously unhappy with Violet’s decision. “After what she and AJ did…”

 

“Clementine has been nothing but helpful since she arrived.” Violet frowned. “Yeah, AJ made a mistake, but so did fucking Marlon! I don’t understand why you’re still defending him, Mitch! You saw what he did to Brody, and he never denied giving up the twins to the raiders! You’re ignoring everything bad he did, just because Clementine is here!”

 

“I’m not ignoring it! He was our family, Vi!” Mitch argued.

 

“...He was our family, but he betrayed us just like AJ did.” Ruby digressed.

 

“Look, I’m just saying,” Violet sighed. “AJ is a little kid. He _grew up_ in this hell. All he knows is violence. He doesn’t know right from wrong yet, and it’s _our_ job to teach him that. It was a fucking death sentence to send them back out there. They barely made it back alive…”

 

“I don’t want them here.” Mitch glared at her. “They can stay for now, but after we deal with the raiders, they’re gone.”

 

“Sure, Mitch.” Violet sighed. “Look, I’m too fucking tired for this. Just go help Clem deal with the greenhouse, okay?”

 

“Fine.” Mitch sighed. He took a deep breath and walked away, Ruby following him out of the office. She fell back into the desk chair and buried her face in her hands for a moment, squeezing her temples. Great, and now she had a headache.

 

~~~

 

“She’s not so bad.” Mitch said, suddenly.

 

Violet looked up from where she was sharpening her cleaver, sitting on one of the loveseats they’d dragged out of the school. She’d been pleased to see Mitch, Ruby, and Clementine all getting along when they got back from the greenhouse. They were talking and even laughing while they lugged the supplies into the admin building.

 

Mitch was standing in front of her with his arms crossed, a scowl on his face at having to admit he was wrong. “What changed your mind?” Violet asked, leaning back into the cushion as Mitch sat down beside her.

 

“She… uh. We burnt Mrs. Martin’s body.” Mitch sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

 

“Oh.” Violet breathed. She felt a pang in her chest at the idea of not burying her properly. Mrs. Martin had been the only adult who cared enough to stay with them. Even though the lady had her own family. Even though every other adult was telling her to get out of there…

 

“Yeah.” Mitch frowned. “Ruby wanted to bury her, but… Fuck, she was so… She was a walker. She wasn’t a person anymore.”

 

“Mitch… you know we don’t bury people just for the sake of it… We bury them because… some of us need that time to say goodbye.” Violet said softly.

 

“We bury _people_.” Mitch shook his head. “Not walkers.”

 

Violet sighed, and went back to sharpening her cleaver. What’s done is done. There was no use getting mad about it now. “This mean you’re done bein’ mad at me?”

 

Mitch leaned his elbows forward on his knees. “...Yeah. Sorry I… Sorry about uh… the funeral. What I said.”

 

“It’s fine.” Violet dismissed. Honestly, she had already forgotten about it, what with everything else on her plate lately. “You were mad.”

 

“Still. Was a shitty thing to say. You were grieving too.” Mitch frowned. There was silence for a couple minutes, just the sound of Violet sharpening her cleaver and the sounds of laughter across the courtyard. She couldn’t be bothered to go join in, though. She liked the quiet.

 

After a few minutes, Mitch started fiddling around with the spear he’d been working on. He was the one who had made all their fishing spears, and sometimes he even whittled little figurines. Usually he gave them to Willie or Tenn to play with.

 

Violet didn’t know how long they sat there, just enjoying each other’s presence. She missed this. With anyone else, she would’ve felt the pressure to fill the silence, just for the sake of talking. It was nice.

 

~~~

 

Two Weeks Later

 

~~~

 

“I have other stuff I need to do.” Louis insisted.

 

“What stuff?” Violet deadpanned, crossing her arms. Knowing Louis, he was just trying to get out of helping so he could mess around on the piano again. Violet was seriously getting sick of his laziness. Everyone needed to help out if they wanted to be prepared for the raiders. Why couldn’t he see that?

 

“Nothing! I just… It’s important.”

 

“Goddamnit, Louis. Take this seriously for once in your life!” Violet scolded. She hated having to be the bad guy, but it seemed inevitable with Louis.

 

“I’ve been taking this serious for fucking days! Almost two weeks!” Louis scoffed.

 

“So has _everyone_.” Violet glared. “Get over yourself!”

 

Louis took a deep breath, and glared at his shoes before just walking away. Violet sighed. She knew she wasn’t going to win this argument. She never did with Louis. She glared at Louis’s back as he walked past Clementine, on his way to go practice his shooting. Violet didn’t know why he even tried, he was a terrible shot.

 

“Hey.” Violet greeted Clementine, tiredly.

 

“I thought Lily and Abel would show up days ago…” Clementine frowned. “I wonder why they’re holding off…”

 

“Don’t know. All I wanted was time to prepare but now… This waiting sucks, and everyone’s on edge.” Violet shook her head and crossed her arms. Morale definitely wasn’t doing too well.

 

“...Need any help?” she offered.

 

“Yeah, actually.” Violet smiled. “Could you check on everyone and make sure they’re doing shit right?”

 

“Sure.” Clementine nodded.

 

“Thanks, Clem.” Violet sighed. “I should go board up the back hallway, since Louis isn’t gonna do it…” Clementine nodded and walked off towards where Louis was trying (and failing) to shoot Marlon’s old bow. Violet scoffed, maybe Clementine could help him out. She knew how good a shot that girl was.

 

She didn’t waste anymore time before heading off towards the back of the admin building, where a small part of the wall had collapsed. It had happened a long time ago, in the middle of the night during a storm. The noise freaked everyone out and it had been a huge deal. Marlon hypothesized that it was probably just water damage.

 

The wall wasn’t too terribly ruined, the gap was only a couple feet. She sort of let her mind go blank, just letting the time pass. It was a monotonous, repetitive action, hammering nails into wood.

 

She was done before she knew it. It wasn’t perfect, but at least nobody could sneak in through there anymore without making at least a little bit of noise.

 

When she made her way back out to the courtyard, she sat down on the front steps. “Back hallway’s secure. How is everyone?” she asked Clementine when the girl came to talk to her.

 

“Well, honestly… It’s not perfect. But they’re trying. They’re doing everything they can.” Clementine said, taking a seat on the steps beside Violet.

 

“ _Trying_ isn’t gonna stop them from getting kidnapped.” Violet frowned. “ _Trying_ isn’t going to stop these raiders from burning down our fucking home. Jesus, Clem… They stopped giving out participation trophies when walkers started eating people!”

 

Then, before Clementine could say anything else, Aasim and Willie walked past them from inside the admin building. “Because you’re _boring_ and your idea is _stupid_!” Willie accused.

 

“Oh, _I’m_ being stupid? You’re the one who can’t think straight! If you could hear yourself-” Aasim defended.

 

“Guys, what the fuck!” Violet interrupted, standing and throwing her hands in the air. Louis and the others approached the fight, wanting to know what was going on.

 

“Violet told us to work on traps together. But _Aasim_ won’t listen to _anything_ I say!” Willie yelled.

 

“That doesn’t mean you have to scream at each other.” Louis pointed out.

 

“Stay out of it!” Aasim grumbled, and then turned to Violet. She stood on the steps with her arms crossed, looking down at the others. “I have an idea for bags filled with bricks. We drop them on the raiders if they get into the admin building. _Willie_ here wants to use a giant _idiotic_ swinging log to take out _one_ raider at most. It’s completely stupid.”

 

“ _You’re_ stupid!” Willie retorted.

 

“ _You’re_ being childish.” Aasim snapped back.

 

“I’m trying to help!”

 

“So help! And stop arguing!” Aasim growled.

 

“We’re going with Aasim’s plan.” Violet declared, stepping forward.

 

“But-”

 

“But nothing. It’s more practical.”

 

“Mine’s practical too!” Willie insisted.

 

“No it isn’t!” Aasim scoffed. “It’s exactly the kind of thing a _child_ would think of. Especially a child who has no idea what he’s up against.” Then, Willie glared at Aasim, and punched him hard in the stomach. Aasim doubled over, groaning as Willie ran away.

 

“What the shit!” Violet gasped.

 

“Dude, you okay?” Louis asked.

 

“Yeah, fine. Shit…” Aasim grunted, holding his stomach and walking away.

 

“Great… We’ll all kill each other before the raiders even get a fuckin’ chance.” Violet frowned.

 

“What we need is something to break the tension.” Louis smiled, and Violet knew immediately what he meant. He lead the girls over to where Aasim was sitting. “Hey, buddy. How’s it hanging?”

 

“Dude, fuck off.” Aasim sighed, still holding his stomach.

 

“Sulking in the corner isn’t gonna help us fight off the raiders. Or turn that frown upside down.” Louis smiled as they all sat down.

 

“You get more annoying _every day_.” Aasim commented.

 

“Regardless,” Louis continued, undeterred. “I’ve come up with a plan to make everybody feel better. And that plan is, a game.”

 

“Ugh, we haven’t played a game in weeks… Since that night with Marlon.” Violet thought aloud.

 

Louis poked Aasim’s side, “If you wanna go ask _Ruby_ to come play… I don’t mind waiting.” He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

 

“Shut up, dude!” Aasim scolded.

 

“You’ve got a crush on Ruby?” Violet smirked.

 

“What are we playing?” AJ asked, sitting down with Tenn.

 

“Truth or Dare.” Louis grinned, shuffling the cards.

 

“You don’t use cards in truth or dare.” Violet pointed out.

 

“You do in this version.” Louis shrugged. “Everyone draws. Highest card gets to ask. Lowest card gets to answer.” Louis passed the deck of cards around the circle, everyone taking a card from the stack and then handing the deck to the right.

 

Violet smirked as she saw her card was an ace, and Clementine’s was a three, meaning Clementine was the lowest. “This should be good. Let’s see… Marry, fuck, kill.”

 

“Vi…” Tenn pouted.

 

“Fine. Mary, _flip_ , kill. Ruby, Aasim, and… James. That guy who saved you.” Violet smiled as Clementine giggled a little.

 

“Oh my God…” Clementine groaned, though she was smiling.

 

“You gotta answer.” Louis grinned. “Them’s the rules.”

 

“Hmm. I would marry… James.” Clementine said.

 

“He sounds mysterious.” Violet mused.

 

“Funny, you pronounce horrifying differently than I do.” Louis jabbed.

 

“Didn’t you say he wore skin? Like human skin?” Violet asked, and Clementine nodded. “Whatever makes you happy, Clem.”

 

“I would, um, flip…”

 

Louis and AJ began chanting ‘flip’ over and over.

 

“Ruby.”

 

Louis broke out into obnoxious laughter, and Violet glared at him. Why should it matter if Clementine would fuck a girl? And why did Louis think it was so damn funny?

 

“Sorry, I was just imagining her glare while Clem propositions her.” Louis explained, still laughing boisterously. Violet relaxed a little, glad he wasn’t laughing just because Clementine appeared to be bisexual. “ _What, you sure that’s a good idea? What’s wrong with you_?” he mocked in an interpretation of Ruby’s southern accent.

 

“She picked.” Violet shrugged, a smile on her lips again. “Ruby gets a flip.”

 

“So that means, you’re killing…” Louis trailed off.

 

“This is amazing.” Tenn smiled.

 

“Aasim.” Violet announced.

 

“Thank God.” Aasim breathed.

 

“What? You’d rather die than marry or flip Clem?” Louis asked.

 

“I uh, n-no! I didn’t mean it like that!” Aasim backpedalled.

 

“This is great. We’re laughing. We’re bonding. It’s a nice break from thinking about homicidal assholes sneaking into our home to kidnap us.” Louis smiled, leaning back on the couch.

 

“Not if you bring it up.” Violet sighed.

 

“On to round two.” Louis announced, and passed the deck of cards around again.

 

Clementine smiled, “I win!”

 

“And poor Aasim loses.” Louis smirked.

 

“Definitely a dare.” Clementine said.

 

“Ugh… Okay, do your worst.” Aasim challenged.

 

“You have to kiss… a walker head.” Clementine smirked.

 

“What?” Violet gasped. She was definitely not expecting Clementine to dare something that extreme, especially right at the beginning of the game!

 

“No way.” Aasim shook his head.

 

“Gotta play by the rules, my dude.” Louis shrugged.

 

“That’s like…” Aasim breathed, “ _I could die_!”

 

“Avoid the teeth. Go for the cheek.” Clementine suggested unapologetically. Violet was positive her attraction for that girl went up by at least two hundred percent.

 

“Ugh. Gross…” Violet groaned, laughing. She was definitely glad she didn’t have any dare from Clementine. Aasim stood up and hesitantly approached one of the walker heads on a spike near the couches.

 

“Ugh… God…” Aasim whimpered, before giving an audible kiss to the walker’s cheek.

 

“Oh my God.” Louis breathed.

 

“Damn…” Violet laughed, and the rest applauded his bravery and laughed at him at the same time.

 

“I hate… everyone.” Aasim pouted, sitting down again and crossing his arms.

 

“That was amazing.” Violet giggled, and Clementine smiled at her.

 

“I think we all learned something about our good friend, Aasim today.” Louis smiled. “He has no romantic charm whatsoever.”

 

“Shut up…” Aasim grumbled.

 

“ _Look sharp y’all. It’s time for round three_!” he said, imitating Ruby again. He passed the stack of cards around. “I got it. We’ve been pretty hard on poor Aasim here, teasing him about sweet Ruby. Seems only fair we mercilessly tease someone else about unrequited love… So, Clem. Anyone here you like-like?”

 

“Seriously, like-like?” Violet sighed. “What are you, six?”

 

“Seven, thank you.” Louis corrected her.

 

Clementine smirked, “I’ve definitely got feelings for _someone_.” Violet’s eyes widened, and she found herself blushing at the mere idea that Clementine liked her back, even if it was improbable…

 

“Oh!” Louis cheered. “Who is it?”

 

“Nope, not telling.” Clementine smiled. If anything, it was probably Louis. With how much he’d been flirting with her, and getting along so well with AJ… Violet scowled. They did another round.

 

“Aasim, you’ve got the high card. And the loser is…” Louis looked over. “Tennessee.”

 

“...What’s something you’ve never told anyone, because you were afraid they’d make fun of you?” Aasim asked. Violet nodded her head in approval. Aasim always came up with the best questions.

 

“You got this.” Louis encouraged.

 

“I um… I uh. I think walkers won’t always be around.” Tenn said, nervously. Violet smiled and nodded when he looked at her. “They’ll go away someday. Cause the world goes in cycles right? Ice age, Stone age, some um… other ages. So it’s like that. This age’ll end, and another one will start.”

 

“An age without walkers. Like it used to be…” Clementine breathed, looking down at her hands in her lap as if she had never even thought of that as a possibility.

 

“Why’s everyone looking at me like that? Did I ruin the game?” Tenn fretted.

 

“That’s really beautiful, Tenn.” Clementine smiled, just as Violet was about to reassure him he hadn’t ruined it. “I never thought of it that way.”

 

Tenn smiled, but frowned when he noticed AJ looking sad from where he was sitting criss-cross on the grass. “What’s wrong AJ?”

 

“I just… don’t know what it’s like. All of you do, but I don’t. I don’t remember a time before monsters.” AJ said sadly. Violet knew Willie and Tenn didn’t remember. They had been only three years old when people became walkers, but she didn’t mention it.

 

“You know what, little dude? It’s okay that you don’t.” Louis said. “Believe me, the world before this one was pretty shitty.” AJ smiled, which made Clementine smile, which made Louis smile. Violet scowled. “And that seems like a good place to call it.”

 

“We should finish up our work anyway. It’s getting dark.” Violet said as she realized it was now night time. She hadn’t even noticed the time go by. The group disbanded and Ruby approached the couches. “You’re on lookout?”

 

“Yep. Clementine’s got it after me.” Ruby said.

 

“Can I come?” AJ asked, eagerly.

 

“Of course you can, little guy.” Ruby smiled at him. Violet knew she was developing a soft spot for him. AJ looked to Clementine for permission, and she nodded. AJ grinned and followed Ruby towards the gate, leaving just Violet, Clementine, and Louis.

 

Violet watched as Aasim shyly went to talk to Willie on the steps of the admin building.

 

“I’m headed to the bell tower.” she said, standing. “I wanna check our defenses on the back wall before bed.”

 

“Do you need help?” Clementine asked.

 

Violet smiled, “Sure, if you want.”

 

“Or, you could always help me.” Louis offered. Violet raised an eyebrow, knowing he just wanted to spend time with Clementine instead of actually being productive. “I am on piano duty.” Yep. Violet rolled her eyes and walked away. “What? I gotta get in some practice before one of you decides to chop it into firewood. I’ve got a project I wanna try, but I need a second person.”

 

Violet glanced back, expecting to see Clementine on her way to go waste time flirting with Louis, but was pleasantly surprised to see her jogging to catch up with Violet.

 

“Decided to get some work done instead of wasting time with Louis?” Violet asked, snarkily.

 

Clementine chuckled, “Piano seemed slightly less important, given the circumstances.”

 

“Don’t let Louis hear you say that.” Violet smiled softly as they walked.

 

It was comfortable. Over the last couple weeks, Violet had noticed that Clementine was sort of reserved by nature. She didn’t talk just to talk. Her words were meaningful, and Violet had learned not to be offended by her silence. She figured it must be from being alone for so long that Clementine was quiet. She wasn’t shy, no. Not at all. Just reserved. Careful, maybe. But still confident. She reminded Violet of Minerva in a lot of ways.

 

Violet opened the door for Clementine and they went into the bell tower. She closed it and then took the lead up the broken stairs. She avoided stepping on any debris from the fallen bell as she went up.

 

“So… checking the walls?” Clementine asked, not seeing a clear path to the top of the tower.

 

“Yep.” Violet smirked. “Ready for a climb?” Clementine tilted her head, but nodded, and followed Violet up the stairs as high as they could go. Which wasn’t high at all, just a couple feet. But it was enough to get a good grip on the metal scaffolding on the walls so they could climb.

 

“Looks a little dangerous…” Clementine said wearily, when Violet’s foot slipped for a second.

 

“What’s more dangerous than walkers? Or that death trap you called a car?” Violet retorted, raising her voice as she climbed higher. “Come on... you’re not chicken, right?”

 

“No.” Clementine declared, and started climbing below her.

 

“Now I’m thinking about chicken nuggets. You remember those?” Violet asked, breathing heavy from exertion.

 

“Not really.” Clementine answered.

 

“ _I_ do. We always got them on Sundays. There was no time for grandma to cook between church and bible study, so… Fast food. Man… I’d give an eyeball for a chicken nugget right now!”

 

“Really?”

 

“Kinda, yeah.” Violet admitted. Finally she reached the top, Clementine following just behind her. She went up the rest of the staircase and leaned on the railing of the balcony, looking out over Ericson. She could see the entire boarding school from up here, and a considerable distance away in all directions too.

 

Clementine joined her after a couple seconds. “Barbed wire, traps, weapons.” Clementine listed, gazing out down below them. “It’s everything we planned.”

 

“You made it happen. We couldn't have done it without you.” Violet said softly, turning her head to look at her. She looked away after only a second though, and pushed off the railing. “You’ve got lookout duty tonight, right?”

 

“Yep. Me and AJ.” Clementine said.

 

Violet’s heart was beating fast and she hesitated before asking, “Do you… have time to hang out first?”

 

“Sure.” Clementine said simply. Violet released a silent breath and walked around the ledge of the bell tower to a spot that extended over the wall. “Wow. Beautiful.”

 

“Sometimes I need the quiet. Just to get away for awhile.” Violet admitted. “Clem…”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I know you came back for medicine, for AJ. But after that you could’ve just left.” Violet said softly. “Avoided all the bullshit with the raiders… Why didn’t you?”

 

“This is my home.” Clementine frowned. “I haven’t had that in a long time. AJ’s never belonged _anywhere_. This is the first time he’s had a home at all.”

 

“I’m glad.” Violet breathed, a tiny smile on her face. She liked the idea of Ericson being Clementine’s home.

 

“...Do you know any constellations?” Clementine asked.

 

“Nope. Do you?”

 

“I learned some in school, but I can’t remember them.”

 

“Let’s make some up.” Violet suggested. “Come over here. You can sit down without falling to your death.” They sat down on the ledge where the railing had fallen down, giving them an unobstructed view of both Ericson and the sparkling night sky. “If I remember right, everyone’s born under a special sign, right? It determines your personality.”

 

“That’s _astrology_ , not astronomy.” Clementine smirked.

 

“Whatever. Let’s just make up our own.” Violet said. “Rules, signs, what it says about you. It’s not like anyone remembers the old way. Okay, let’s do this.” She looked up. “There.” she pointed. “See, it’s a fish.” She gave Clementine a moment to find it.

 

“Right. Now it needs a personality.” Clementine prompted.

 

“Bright, pretty, good with other people. Always moving. _Tons of energy._ Sound like anyone we know?” Violet smiled. “The energy part is easy.”

 

“That’s AJ. Wherever I look, there he is, taking up all my attention. And I love him for it.” Clementine said, a fond smile on her face.

 

Violet smiled. She couldn’t help liking how close with AJ she was. It was like Clementine was both a mother figure and a sister figure to AJ, all while still being his friend at the same time. Violet knew she sometimes came off as too demanding when it came to Tenn. She admired that about Clementine.

 

“He’s getting better around other people.” Violet said. “You’re doing good with him.” Clementine smiled at her. “Next up. I spy with my eye… a knife. See it?”

 

“Hmm…”

 

“Right there. Right above your head.” Violet said.

 

“They’re _all_ above my head.” Clementine sassed.

 

“Mh. This one’s easy. Smart, clean, vicious, dependable. _Someone you want with you in a fight_ .” Violet nodded. “Doesn’t take crap from _anyone_ . Gets shit _done_.”

 

“Sounds just like you.” Clementine smiled, bumping their shoulders.

 

“Oh…” Violet breathed shakily. She wasn’t expecting Clementine to say something like that... “I like that one. Yeah. Okay… I found another one. A bird.”

 

“A real bird?”

 

“No. A star bird.” Violet corrected. “It could go anywhere it wanted to. Up and up and up, and never come back. It could fly north, south, east, west. Doesn’t matter. It could fly right into the sunset. See where it ends...”

 

“You wish it was you, don’t you?” Clementine said, her voice uncharacteristically soft.

 

“Sometimes.” Violet admitted. “When it all feels so heavy down here… I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to be weightless… Sorry… I didn’t mean to just… talk so much. It’s just… I’ve watched people leave before. Family, friends. They never come back. But you did. And now… I can’t imagine what it would be like if you weren’t here.”

 

“...I think… I mean, I hope… We’re more than friends.” Clementine said. Violet stopped breathing, and she was gaping at Clementine. “And I want... “

 

Violet could see her leaning in, but she still couldn’t breath. Clementine kissed her, pecked her lips for just a second before pulling away, but it was nice. It was… strangely liberating, to kiss Clementine. To be kissed by Clementine. She hadn’t kissed anyone in… well, a year. It felt like she was finally moving on. Finally _allowing_ herself to move on.

 

“Holy shit.” Violet breathed, looking out unseeingly over Ericson.

 

“That’s romantic.” Clementine smirked.

 

“I-I mean...   _holy shit_.” she repeated, with more feeling this time, a smile taking over her face. She hesitated only a second before covering Clementine’s right hand with her left between them.

 

“Vi! Clem? You up there?” she heard Ruby call from the ground.

 

“Shit-sticks.” Violet groaned. “Probably time for your lookout shift. Ready?”

 

Clementine scowled, “Yeah.” They stood up, and Clementine reluctantly took her hand back. Violet lead the way back down the bell tower, just so that if Clementine fell, she would have something besides concrete and metal debris to land on.

 

~~~

 

“They finally show up?” Violet asked, breathlessly. Clementine had climbed down from the lookout post and made a beeline for Violet, who had been sitting with Tenn and Mitch on the sofas.

 

“Yes.” Clementine breathed. “They’re out there.”

 

“Stay safe, okay?” Violet warned, hesitantly grabbing her hand. Clementine squeezed her hand and she smiled just slightly.

 

“We’re ready.” Omar promised.

 

“They’ve got at least four more people. And guns. And carts. Probably to carry people away.” Clementine informed, shaking her head.

 

“I can’t believe they’re really here.” Ruby breathed, and Aasim put a hand on her shoulder.

 

“If they get inside, I’ll keep them focused on me. That will give Willie and Mitch enough time to set up the bomb.” Clementine said. Violet frowned. She hated the thought of sending Clementine in alone, but for some reason, she had agreed to this plan.

 

“I’ll set it under those carts. It’ll work. I _promise_.” Mitch assured. Violet fucking hoped so...

 

“If they manage to get in, we fall back.” Clementine said.

 

“To the admin building.” Louis nodded.

 

“Exactly. Right into our traps.” Clementine smirked.

 

“They’re in for a rude fuckin’ surprise. Those duffel bags will break bones, easy!” Aasim said, cracking his knuckles pridefully.

 

“So, uh… any final words of wisdom?” Louis asked, nervously.

 

“Just, try not to-”

 

BANG! A shot was fired through the gate, and Omar collapsed. Everyone panicked, cursing and trying to find cover. Violet was about to grab Omar under his arms to drag him away but Clementine told her to go hide, so she did.

 

She had her bow in her hands as she crouched beside Louis beside the admin building, using the brick railing as cover to hide. She saw Clementine dragging Omar back behind the flipped over picnic tables in front of the admin building.

 

“Clementine, I know you’re in there.” came Lily’s confident voice from outside their walls.

 

“Open up kids. This doesn’t have to get any uglier.” Abel yelled, his voice gruff.

 

“Shit!” Violet gasped when she saw the raiders throwing Molotov cocktails over the wall, creating flumes of fire in the courtyard. The raiders were pounding on the gate, and they had it open within a few seconds.

 

Violet was breathing heavy and her heart was beating so fast her fingers were throbbing. She was gripping her bow so hard her knuckles were white, and her whole body was trembling without her permission. This was really happening.

 

“Stay calm.” Louis reminded her. “Clem’s got this.” She could tell he was just as frightened as she was.

 

Lily, Abel, four more raiders, and a horse-drawn carriage entered the walls. Sitting on top of the carriage, were two cages, big enough to fit _people_ in. The thought sent chills down her spine.

 

“Spread out.” Lily said, quietly to her crew.

 

“Lily!” Clementine shouted, standing and aiming Marlon’s old bow right at Lily’s head. “Move, and I’ll shoot!”

 

All guns swiveled to aim at Clementine as Abel said, “You won’t get the chance!”

 

Lily signaled to someone hiding up in the trees, and asked, “Where’s our new recruits?”

 

“They’re not yours.” Clementine growled.

 

“Search the yard.” Lily commanded her people. “If Clementine moves, shoot her. We’ll find them… And then we’ll _take_ them. And you, and your little boy.”

 

“Take me, then.” Clementine said. Violet gasped, barely resisting the urge to argue about it. “You want soldiers? Fine. Take _me_ with you. But leave _everyone_ else!”

 

“You’d do that? You’d come with me if I let the others go?” Lily asked slowly, as if she couldn’t believe the words being said to her.

 

“Yes.” Clementine answered, without hesitation. Louis was gripping Violet’s arm again, a silent reminder that they have a plan.

 

“You’ve changed.” Lily grimaced, shaking her head disappointedly.

 

“I grew up.” Clementine glowered.

 

“I can see that. God, you are just like _him_ . Lee would’ve been heartbroken knowing he taught you all the wrong things. That the sweet little girl he protected turned out like _this…_ ” Lily paced around the courtyard, her gun never wavering from Clementine’s head as the rest of the raiders fanned out across the yard.

 

“You’re right, Lily. I’m just like Lee. And if he saw me now, he’d be proud of who I am!” Clementine snarled. Violet had never seen her talk with that much anger in her tone. Lee must have meant a lot to her…

 

“ _Why_ ? Because you almost gave up just now? Handed yourself over just to save your friends? Right, I’m sure that made all his _sacrifices_ worth it…” Lily mocked.

 

“Get out.” Clementine gritted her teeth.

 

Lily sighed, “If _you_ won’t help me find the others, I’ll find someone who will. We’ve recruited from this school before.” Then she spoke louder. “ _Minnie_ wanted to come along tonight.” Violet’s breath caught, and she resisted the urge to look out over the top of the brick railing and blow their cover. “To tell you how well she’s adjusted to her new life. How happy she is. She _said_ she had a girlfriend back here.” Violet closed her eyes and lowered her head. “Friends she missed. One guy, he could always make her laugh, no matter what.” She heard Louis gasp beside her. “And her little brother. She missed him the most.”

 

Violet was barely breathing. She prayed for Tenn to stay in hiding.

 

He didn’t. “Where are they?” she heard Tenn ask, nervously.

 

“Shit…” Violet whispered.

 

“Let me take you to them.” Lily offered.

 

“I can’t… I just want them back… Please…” Tenn begged.

 

“Shut up Lily! You’ve always been a liar! And a _killer_!” Clementine screamed. “You’re not taking anyone else from me!”

 

Then, an explosion. Mitch must have been successful. The force of it sent the raiders flying. “Shit, shit!” Lily cursed. The residents of Ericson all sprinted to where Violet and Louis were, taking cover behind the brick railing near the admin building. Violet and Aasim fired arrows at the raiders, and Violet smirked as she got one guy in the shoulder.

 

She was ready to cover Tenn while he ran back to cover, but Mitch suddenly sprinted past him towards Lily. Violet could barely process what happened. Everything was moving so quickly.

 

“Mitch? Mitch! No!” Willie screamed, and Aasim held him back, but the kid was kicking and screaming, trying to get to his friend, who laid lifeless on the concrete. Lily hovered over Mitch, a bloody knife buried deep in his skull. Violet wanted to throw up.

 

“Kill who you have to. Take the rest!” Lily commanded, obviously irritated at having killed one of her recruits. The raiders began firing at them, and Louis barely pulled her down below cover in time.

 

“Now! Go back!” Clementine yelled as she shot one man’s knee out, and Violet didn’t think. She ran to the admin building, turning back to cover everyone behind her and make sure they made it. Clementine was doing the same.

 

“Follow them!” Lily screamed, and the raiders were hot on their tails. Tenn, Willie, Aasim, AJ, and Clementine had made it in, but Violet had run out of time.

 

She was forced to run the other way as the raiders forced the door to the admin building open. She tried to run back, but a woman grabbed her by the hair and yanked hard, causing her to cry out as she was thrown to the ground. Her hands were stinging from scraping on the concrete and she dropped the bow in her struggle.

 

The woman stepped on her stomach heavily, but Violet hit the back of her her knee, causing the woman to stumble a little. Violet scrambled to her feet, pulling out her cleaver.

 

Violet didn’t want to kill anyone, she had never, but she knew people were dying tonight. She’d known it for weeks. Hell, people had _already_ died…

 

The woman aimed her shotgun right in Violet’s face, and Violet instinctively back up slowly, moving further into the courtyard. “You want me alive, right?” she asked, her voice shaky.

 

The woman didn’t answer, just gestured with a tilt of her head to the cages sitting on top of the carriage. Violet was horrified to see Aasim and Omar’s unconscious bodies were laying inside. She thought Aasim made it inside?

 

Then, the balcony collapsed, and Violet could smell smoke coming from the admin building. Violet recognized Abel and Clementine as she very slowly backed up towards the cages. She could hear Abel’s screams, but not Clementine’s. She needed to get out of this…

 

She struggled as the woman pried her cleaver from her hand, the barrel of her shotgun pressed hard against Violet’s head. The woman was dragging her towards the cage, but she was kicking and flailing, scratching at the woman’s skin with jagged, bitten nails.

 

“Stop fucking struggling!” the woman grunted, pulling her hair and pulling her further. Then, the woman went limp, and Violet pushed her off. She barely had time to notice the arrow sticking out of the woman’s head as she sprinted away to safety.

 

“We cut our losses! Pull in and fall back!” Lily screamed. Violet ran back to the admin building as the horse drawn carriage flew out of the gates. The raiders shot backwards at them on their way out and Lily threw down a Molotov in the middle of the gate to prevent them from following.

 

Violet still had no time to think, because now there were walkers inside the walls. She grabbed her cleaver from the ground and started mowing down the walkers just like Clementine was doing.

 

Silence reigned. There was fire everywhere, debris and  bodies littered around the courtyard. Mitch’s body…

 

“They took them. Aasim, and Omar. And… goddamnit! Louis…” Violet breathed as the remaining kids gathered in front of the gate.

 

“I know…” Clementine murmured, putting a hand on Violet’s arm. “We’re _going_ after them.

 

“If we knew where to look, I’d smash down their walls myself. But we don’t…” Violet said sadly, lowering her head.

 

“...Well, we’ve got someone who does.” Clementine said, turning. Violet followed her gaze to Abel, who sat on the ground with his arms tied behind his back. His leg was bent the wrong way and his face was covered in blood. Violet didn’t care.

 

She didn’t care what she had to do to get what they needed from this guy. She would do it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually cried while writing mitch's death MY SON
> 
> I'll be continuing this if/when the Final Season continues, so look forward to that.
> 
> Yell at me on Tumblr @ abaguettewithaface
> 
> Comments and feedback are appreciated! I'm always looking to improve my writing.


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